Question

the sun rays are --------------- at the poles

Answer 1

The sun rays fall almost straight at the equator while they fall slanting as we move away from the equator towards the poles. Therefore, the sun rays spread at a larger area as we move from the poles while they are concentrated over a small area at the equator. This results in more heating of the regions near the equator as compared to the regions away from the equator. Hence, it becomes cooler when we move from the equator towards the poles.

Answer 2

It's the dawn of a new day in Antarctica as autumn begins in Earth's northern hemisphere.

 



September 23, 1999: Every year about this time thousands of penguins rejoice to see the sun peep above the horizon in Antarctica. The return of the sun after 6 long months of chilly darkness means spring has arrived. For penguins it's time to shed a few pounds of blubber, find a mate, and bask in the sunshine for the next 6 months. For a small band of scientists and technicians who wintered over at the south pole, it's time for supply drops, mail, and fresh fruit. Outside the temperature begins to climb from a frigid -70 deg. C to -25 degrees. Spring is in the air. What triggers this south pole revolution? It's called the autumnal equinox.

Above: This is an image of the Automated Astrophysical Site-Testing Observatory near the US South Pole Station captured by a web cam just 2 days before 1999 autumnal equinox. The reddish-pink dawn sky presages the coming of a 6 month-long day. Click for images updated every 10 minutes.

The autumnal equinox marks the beginning of autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere. This year it takes place at 7:31 am EDT on September 23 when the Sun crosses the equator heading south. On the day of the equinox sunlight and darkness are of almost equal length. At the south pole the sun rises, and at the north pole it sets for six months.
 



Left: The red dot marks the subsolar point (the location on Earth where the Sun is directly overhead) at noon Eastern Standard Time throughout the year. Equinoxes occur when the subsolar point crosses the equator, once in March (the Vernal Equinox) and again in September (the Autumnal Equinox). The subsolar latitude moves around during the year because the Earth's spin axis is tilted 23.5 degrees. If there were no tilt, we would have no appreciable seasons. This animation is based on images generated by by JPL's Solar System Simulator.

Every planet in the solar system has seasons. Most have four seasons like the Earth. With the coming of fall for Earth's northern hemisphere our planet joins three others in the solar system where it is also northern autumn: Mars, Saturn, and Uranus. The approximate dates of recent solstices and equinoxes for the other planets are tabulated below.

 

Parents and Educators: Please visit Thursday's Classroom for lesson plans and activities related to this story.By convention, equinoxes and solstices are named after the corresponding season in the northern hemisphere. When the north pole of a planet is tilted toward the sun, astronomers call it the Summer Solstice; when the south pole is tilted toward the sun it is called the Winter Solstice. Nevertheless, the seasons are opposite in the north and south hemispheres of every planet. When it is summer in New York, it is winter in Sydney. On a spring day in Paris, autumn leaves are falling in Argentina, and so on... In the table, all seasonal references refer to the northern hemisphere.


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