Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Science

The tilt in Earth's axis makes the apparent position of continents shift with the seasons

Most kids learn in elementary school that the seasons are caused by Earth rotating on a tilted axis during its yearly orbit around the sun. The substantial tilt, about 23.5 degrees, is thought to be the result of an ancient planetary body, Theia, smashing into Earth about 4.5 billion years ago, in t...

The tilt in Earth's axis makes the apparent position of continents shift with the seasons
Image: Phys.org
Most kids learn in elementary school that the seasons are caused by Earth rotating on a tilted axis during its yearly orbit around the sun. The substantial tilt, about 23.5 degrees, is thought to be the result of an ancient planetary body, Theia, smashing into Earth about 4.5 billion years ago, in the same cataclysmic collision that formed the moon.

Originally published at Phys.org

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