What is the importance of the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn?
Answers
Answer:
They match the orientation of the Earth's rotational axis to the ecliptical plane around the sun.
An easier way to think of it might be to consider them the latitudes at which the sun's rays hit the Earth's surface at a right angle both during Summer and Winter Solstice. At the start of winter in the northern hemisphere the sun's rays are only hitting the Earth's surface at a right angle (meaning the sun is directly overhead) at the Tropic of Capricorn. During the northern hemisphere's summer the sun is directly overhead if you were standing at the Tropic of Cancer.
The band around the Earth bounded by the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn define the 'tropical latitudes' (or simply the 'tropics') where it is possible to have the sun directly overhead
Answer:
The Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer were delineated because they are both places within the hemisphere where it's possible for the sun to be directly overhead. For ancient travelers who used the heavens to guide their way, these were crucial demarcation lines.