The official website of the Chavez Solar Calendar is solarcalendar.org. The word "solstice" comes from the Latin words "sol" (sun) and "stit" (stationary). Sunset and sunrise horizon positions do not change much from day to day around the solstice times. Likewise the position of the Sun at solar noon in the sky does not change much day to day around solstice times. By contrast, equinoxes are the times of maximum rate of change of sunset and sunrise horizon positions as well as positions of the Sun at solar noon and number of hours of daylight.Winter solstice gathering materials
The Reason for Seasons
Let's assume for the moment that: "seasons are caused by how close the Earth is to the Sun at different times of year."
In the diagram below, notice that
So for people in the southern hemisphere, changes in the Sun-Earth distance may be a logical explanation for why it's warmer in summer than in winter. But the logic completely fails for those of us in the northern hemisphere.
What does that mean for our assumption that
"seasons are caused by how close the Earth is to the Sun at different times of year"?
[That assumption must be flat wrong!]
See also: Seasons Diagram with reversed color (black background) Is one hemisphere nearer or farther from the Sun because of the tilt of the Earth? Answer: No, since the diameter of Earth is less than 15,000 km, negligible compared to the roughly 150 MILLION km Earth-Sun distance. . So what are the real reasons for the seasons?
It's the tilt of the Earth's axis with respect to its orbit, as shown in the diagram.
Earth's axis is always pointing towards the North Star, at a 23.5° angle from vertical to the plane of Earth's orbit.
In the northern hemisphere's winter, less of the northern hemisphere is illuminated by sunlight, causing
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