Astronomy

According to the original concept there are 24 time zones. Appropriately, there is one for every hour of the day. The standard definition separates the zones by 15 degrees of longitude, with zero degrees, the prime meridian, being in the center of its zone. However, independent nations have every right to reckon time in a way that is locally useful and sensible to them. As a result there are many places that deviate from the originally defined zones, and not just by pulling an adjacent zone over to them. Some places operate on times that deviate from the Universal Time off-set by 30 or even 15 minutes, essentially creating new zones. There are 33 zones currently, taking into account all the variations.

Time in a given zone is usually given as an off-set from Coordinated Universal Time, UTC. For example, I live in the northeast US, where the off-set is UTC-5. UTC is time as reckoned since establishing atomic clocks, not the motion of the earth, as the standard. See link for more.

The point where the southern hemisphere has the least exposure to the sun is the Summer solstice.

The point where the southern hemisphere has the greatest exposure to the sun is the winter solstice.

icarus and daedalus

bar (:

Summer Solstice

autunmal equinox.

24 Hours-Chris Collins

west to east.