Tropic of Capricorn
From Free net encyclopedia
- Tropic of Capricorn is also the name of a novel by Henry Miller, first published in 1939.
Image:TROPIC OF CAPRICORN021106.jpg The Tropic of Capricorn is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. It is the parallel of latitude at 23° 26' 22" south of the Equator, and is the farthest southern latitude that the sun can appear directly overhead, occurring on the December solstice. Its northern hemisphere equivalent is the Tropic of Cancer. Latitudes south of the Tropic of Capricorn are in the Southern Temperate Zone. North of this line are the Tropics.
The Tropic of Capricorn passes through the following countries (going west):
- Brazil
- Paraguay
- Argentina
- Chile
- French Polynesia (France) - misses every island, passing between Tubuai and Raivavae
- Australia
- Madagascar
- Mozambique
- South Africa
- Botswana
- Namibia
It is called the Tropic of Capricorn because when it was named about 2000 years ago, the sun was entering the constellation Capricorn on the December solstice. Now, the sun appears in the constellation Sagittarius during this time. The change is due to precession of the equinoxes.
See also
Template:Geo-term-stubca:Tròpic de Capricorn de:Südlicher Wendekreis es:Trópico de Capricornio eo:Tropiko de Kaprikorno fr:Tropique du Capricorne gl:Trópico de Capricornio hu:Baktérítő it:Tropico del Capricorno nl:Steenbokskeerkring no:Stenbukkens vendekrets pt:Trópico de Capricórnio fi:Kauriin kääntöpiiri sv:Stenbockens vändkrets tr:Oğlak Dönencesi vi:Chí tuyến Nam zh:南回归线