Where does the suns rays strike earth at the equator?

Answer 1

The equator is, of course, an imaginary line encircling the earth mid way between its poles (axis of rotation).

Sunlight strikes this imaginary line any time it rotates into daylight, and ceases impinging it as it further rotates into darkness (the sun sets).

The angle at which the sun strikes the equator varies throughout the day, but there the sun passes more directly overhead at high noon that in other locations outside the tropics of cancer and capricorn, around the world.

Answer 2

That is because the Sun, and its planets, evolved together from the rotating solar nebula.

That is because the Sun, and its planets, evolved together from the rotating solar nebula.

That is because the Sun, and its planets, evolved together from the rotating solar nebula.

That is because the Sun, and its planets, evolved together from the rotating solar nebula.

Answer 3

It isn't. At the northern hemisphere summer solstice on June 21, the sub-point of the Sun is at 23.5 degrees north latitude, and at the Southern Hemisphere summer solstice on December 21, the Sun's sub-point is at 23.5 south latitude.

The "sub-point" of any celestial body is the point on the Earth where that celestial object - Sun, Moon or star - is straight up.

In fact, only at the equinoxes on March 21 and September 21 is the Sun directly over the equator.

Each of these dates for the solstices and equinoxes can vary a day earlier or later depending on the cycle of leap years.

Answer 4

This seems to be related to a combination of convection, and Coriolis forces. This not only happens on the Sun, but also with the gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, and pressumably also Uranus and Neptune).

Answer 5

the only way this can be answered is by knowing where you would like to know what the angles of the suns rays are. Since i do not know where you are i can accurately answer this question by saying during the equinox the sun rays are at 90 degrees at the equator.

Answer 6

This looks like conservation of rotational momentum. The cloud out of which the Solar System formed must have rotated, and while it contracted to form planets and the Sun, it continued rotating in the same direction.

Answer 7

The word "equinox" comes from the latin for "equal nights", meaning that the daylight and nighttime periods are equal. This occurs when the Sun passes over the equator on March 21 (plus or minus a day, because of the cycle of leap years) and September 21.

The spring or "vernal" equinox is when the Sun is crossing over the equator to your hemisphere, and the autumnal equinox is when the Sun crosses the equator into the "other" hemisphere. So if you are in North America or Europe and most of Asia, the spring equinox is on March 21, while in Australia, Africa and most of South America, the spring equinox is on September 21.

Answer 8

The Sun isn't doing anything special; it just sits there in the middle of the solar system.

But from the point of view of our moving Earth, it's a little different. The Earth spins like a gyroscope, a gyro that is permanently "tilted" by 23 1/2 degrees as compared to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. So twice per year, the Sun appears to be directly above the equator, and these are the two equinoxes.

They generally occur on March 21 and September 21, but these dates can vary a day either way depending on the cycle of leap years.

Answer 9

That depends on your location. If you are at the north pole or the south pole, at the equinox the Sun is just on the horizon. (Because of atmospheric refraction bending the Sun's rays around the Earth, the Sun would appear to be just above the horizon in both places!) If you live at the equator, then the Sun will pass directly overhead at "local apparent noon".

If you live somewhere else, you can determine your latitude by measuring the altitude of the noonday Sun above the horizon. Your latitude is 90 - the elevation angle of the Sun at noon. (Actually, if you have a Nautical Almanac, you can do this on any date.)

Answer 10

The sun's rays strike the Earth at the equator directly overhead. This area receives the most direct sunlight, leading to consistent warm temperatures throughout the year.