Posted on 08/02/2013 4:08:29 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: This intriguing monument can be found in Taiwan between the cities of Hualian and Taitong. Split into two sides, it straddles a special circle of latitude on planet Earth, near 23.5 degrees north, known as the Tropic of Cancer. Points along the Tropic of Cancer are the northernmost locations where the Sun can pass directly overhead, an event that occurs once a year during the northern hemisphere's summer solstice. The latitude that defines the Tropic of Cancer corresponds to the tilt of planet Earth's rotation axis with respect to its orbital plane. The name refers to the zodiacal constellation Cancer the Crab. Historically the Sun's position was within Cancer during the northern summer solstice, but because of the precession of Earth's axis, that solstice Sun is currently within the boundaries of Taurus. In this starry night scene the otherwise all white structure is colored by city lights, with its orange side just south of the Tropic of Cancer and the white side just north. Of course, there is a southern hemisphere counterpart of the Tropic of Cancer. It's called the Tropic of Capricorn.
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[Credit & Copyright: Rogelio Bernal Andreo (Deep Sky Colors)]
Thanks very much, SunkenCiv!!!
Cool!
I didn’t know that.
And i always delight in learning something NEW.
Thanks, Sunken Civ!
I’ve crossed the equator many times at sea but now that you mention it the closest ever I’ve been to it on land is Singapore.
It’s not always easy to do — a lot of the Equator is open sea.
Very true...but far from impossible.South America,Africa and even a small part of Asia.
When in Australia many years ago in the Outback near Alice Springs,
we were traveling on this road crossing the Tropic...
(Not my pic, though I do have a slide of it somewhere ;)
I,too,did "the Outback" some years ago...I went to a town in New South Wales called Broken Hill,a stop on the Indian-Pacific (which is how I got there).It was September (their summer,as you know) and although it was south of the Tropic it was *anything* but cold.It hit 105 on each of the three days I was there.
brain cells dying more quickly with advancing years
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