Okay I know this is like 4th grade science or something, but I think with my stroke I just can’t seem to picture why the sun is “on” or “off” for most of the day up at the North Pole or down at South Pole, and yet at the equator days are very regular year ’round.
I keep picturing the Earth on its axis, but I just can’t seem to figure out how the sun shines differently at different latitudes.
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The Earth is tilted. During the polar summer, that pole is pointed “towards” the Sun, like this (assuming North pole):
Sun <Earth
See how the tilted arrow points towards the Sun at the top? Does it make sense how the Sun is going to consistently shine there? Even as the Earth spins during the day, the area at the top doesn’t “spin out” of pointing towards the Sun.
Ok, now, go to the other half of the year. The Earth is going to be on the other side of the sun, but it still ***faces*** the same way, like this:
Earth> Sun
Now the top of the tilted arrow points ***away*** from the Sun at the top. In the same way, even as the Earth spins during the day, the area at the top doesn’t “spin in” to pointing towards the Sun.
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