Astronomy: The Seasons

     It is typical to think of the seasons as an earthly thing that happens in nature, and space to be a separate category from nature all together. It is common knowledge that the sun has something to do with the seasons. Although, not everyone takes interest in what involvement the sun has in our everyday lives.

     The earth spins like a coin, only slower, but as it spins, it also follows a kind of track that is made by a gravitational pull rather than by metal like on a roller coaster. The spinning like a coin results in day and night, and the gravitational round-about the sun results in the seasons. Which means, just like people on the other side of the world from where you live are experiencing night while it is day time for you, the seasons are also reversed for people on the other side of the world from you. In the US, June is the start of summer, whereas in Australia, June is the start of winter.

     The seasons start by equinoxes and solstices. Spring starts when the sun is directly overhead of the equator, the day this happens is called the Spring Equinox, and from there the sun rises. On the day the sun rises to the highest point over the sky, is the first day of summer, which is called the Summer Solstice. From there, the heat from that day accumulates making the part of earth experiencing summer hotter and hotter over the occurring months. Once the sun goes back down to be directly overhead of the equator, it is called the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of fall. After that, the sun slowly goes down to its lowest point in the sky, on the day it gets to its lowest point is the first day of winter, the Winter Solstice. From there, the cold accumulates while the sun starts to rise, leaving the following months getting colder and colder until Spring comes again and the process repeats.

     This process happens because of the way earth wobbles while it spins like a coin, and the way it orbits the sun. It doesn't orbit the sun in a perfect circle, it's more like an oval, with the sun being to one side of that oval rather than in the center. This is because, what happens to the sun is similar to what happens when you throw a ball. In fact, its the exact same momentum that is happening with gravity.

     When you first throw the ball, it goes upwards fast, and the further it goes, the slower it gets, until it slows down so much there is not enough momentum to keep it going in the upwards direction, so it speeds up as it goes down. The earth falls towards the sun, being caught in a circular motion. It falls quickly towards the sun, and barely misses as it slows down, until it speeds up in the other direction before falling back towards the sun again. 

     What we perceive as hot and cold weather, is the earth moving round the sun, which affects all of earth. From how long it takes for the sun to come up and go down, to when the weather is in good condition to facilitate rain, snow, green grass or brown, flowers in bloom, hibernating creatures, the birds traveling cross the earth, the trees and their colors, what people are wearing, peoples’ allergies and moods, what’s the proper season for different flavors of coffee and cozy blankets. The whole world and everyone’s behaviors are affected by the universe beyond what we can see. Even the colors of the world, or in a painting, are considered by the different seasons.