A Guide to Solstices and Equinoxes

Solstices and equinoxes are interesting terms that show up each year on our calendars. They are related to astronomy and the motions of our planet. Most people think of them as the start of a season. Thats true as far as a date on a calendar is concerned, but they dont necessarily predict climate or weather. The terms solstice and equinox are related to specific positions of the Suns in the sky throughout the year. Of course, the Sun doesnt move through our sky. But, it appears to move because Earth is turning on its axis, like a merry-go-round. People on a merry-go-round see people appear to move around them, but its really the ride thats moving. Its the same with Earth. As the planet spins around, people see the Sun appear to rise in the east and set in the west.  The Moon, planets,  and stars all appear to do the same thing, for the same reason.   Precessional movement of Earths pole. Earth turns on its axis once a day (shown by the white arrows). The axis is indicated by the red lines coming out the top and bottom poles. The white line is the imaginary line the pole traces out as Earth wobbles on its axis. NASA Earth Observatory adaptation How Are Solstices and Equinoxes Determined?   Watch the sunrise and sunset each day (and remember never to look directly AT our hot, bright Sun), and notice its rise and set points change throughout the year. Notice also that the Suns position in the sky at noon is farther north at some times of year and more southerly at other times. The sunrise, sunset, and zenith points slide slowly to the north from December 21-22 to June 20-21 each year. Then, they appear to pause before starting the slow daily slide toward the south, from June 20-21st (the northernmost point) to December 21-22 (the southernmost point). Those stopping points are called the solstices (from the Latin  sol,  which means sun, and sistere,  which means stand still). These terms stem back to a time when early observers had no knowledge of Earths motions in space but did notice that the Sun appeared to stand still at its northernmost and southernmost points, before resuming its apparent motion south and north (respectively). Solstices Summer solstice is the longest day of the year for each hemisphere. For northern hemisphere observers, the June solstice (the 20th or 21st), marks the beginning of summer. In the southern hemisphere, thats the shortest day of the year and marks the beginning of winter. Six months later, on December 21st or 22nd, winter begins with the shortest day of the year for northern hemisphere people. Its the start of summer and the longest day of the year for people south of the equator. This is why such solstices are now called the December and June solstices, rather than winter or summer solstices. It recognizes that the seasons for each hemisphere correspond to north or south location.   The Greek astronomer Hipparchus was the first to discover and chart the equinoxes. Getty Images   Equinoxes Equinoxes are also connected to this slow change of apparent solar position. The term equinox comes from two Latin words aequus (equal) and nox (night). The Sun rises and sets exactly due east and due west on the equinoxes, and day and night are of equal length. In the northern hemisphere, the March equinox marks the first day of spring, while its the first day of autumn in the southern hemisphere. The September equinox is the first day of fall in the north and the first day of spring in the south.   So, the solstices and equinoxes are important calendar points that come to us from the apparent position of the Sun in our sky. They are also intimately connected to the seasons but are not the sole reason why we have seasons. The reasons for the seasons  are linked to Earths tilt and its position as it orbits the Sun.   Observing the Solstices and Equinoxes Charting the moments of solstice and equinox is a year-long observation project. Take a moment each day to observe the sky; notice sunrise or sunset and mark where those occur along your horizon. After a few weeks, its very easy to note a  very distinct shift of the positions north or south. Check out the appearance points of sunrise and sunset against the printed calendar and see how close they come to matching. Its a great long-term science activity for anyone to do, and has been the subject of more than a few science fair projects!   While the original ideas about solstices and equinoxes hark back to a time in human history when sky observers had no way of knowing about our planets motions in space, they still mark important dates that give people clues about the change of seasons. Today, ancient astronomical markers such as Stonehenge remind us that people have been looking to the sky, and measuring its motions, since the dawn of human history.

Invisible Man Essay example - 1361 Words

Ellisons book, Invisible Man was written in the 1930s. It deals with the identity of a black man in white America. The narrator writes in first person, emphasizing his individual experience and events portrayed; though the narrator and the main character remain anonymous throughout the book, they go by the name Invisible Man. The character decides that the world is full of blind people and sleep walkers who cannot see him for who he really is, thus he calls himself the Invisible Man, though he is not truly invisible, it is just a refusal for others to see him. Through a long and frustrating search, the Invisible Man hopes to answer questions that may be unanswerable. The search begins with his desire to attend college. Education†¦show more content†¦Ellison uses the vocabulary of a learned man, to portray the extravagant experiences of the main character. The novel was one of first books to openly state and describe the racial problems in the United States from a black Amer icans point of view. The setting of invisible man was in the 1950s in the United States. The 1950s the world was recovering from WWII. The world was coming together to repair itself and become prosperous again. Although most of the world began to thrive again, the black community in the United States was still being discriminated against. But the blacks began to take action and take a stand on their place in society. So in the 1950s there was still heavy segregation and discrimination against blacks. Invisible man is definitely a disputable book, which most likely caused many problems in the 1950s. In Invisible man there was extreme violence shown. The first chapter called the battle royal white men pay for a few Negro young men to fight for their entertainment. At the same scene, a white, nude striper taunts them. I feel that this is ironic because this showed how the male portion of the society reacted to certain forms of entertainment. After the staged fight they are brought to a mat with money on top of it. When the young men lung for the money they discover that the mat is wired with electricity and then the whites attempt to press their faces pressed to the mat. While theirShow MoreRelatedInvisible Man1346 Words   |  6 PagesJanelle Clovie Dr. Blanchard AP Literature 3 November 2017 Familial Connections in Invisible Man Family. It is a very fluid yet rigid idea. It has a wealth of definitions, all of which range in degree and magnitude, and vary from person to person; yet the concept of how a family should work and operate is very concrete in most American minds. Family is a bond that is crafted every second of everyday until it is powerful, and this can shape beliefs, outlooks, and confidence. A study found that childrenRead More Invisible Man Essay: Values of the Invisible Man1267 Words   |  6 PagesValues of the Invisible Man      Ã‚  Ã‚   Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man is the story of an educated black man who has been oppressed and controlled by white men throughout his life. As the narrator, he is nameless throughout the novel as he journeys from the South, where he studies at an all-black college, to Harlem where he joins a Communist-like party known as the Brotherhood. Throughout the novel, the narrator is on a search for his true identity. Several letters are given to him by outsiders thatRead More Invisible Man Essay: Self-Identity in Invisible Man1040 Words   |  5 PagesSelf-Identity in Invisible Man      Ã‚  Ã‚   In the novel, Invisible Man, the main character carries around a briefcase throughout the entire story. All of the possessions that he carries in that briefcase are mementos from learning experiences. 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Wells, is composed of many small themes that combined to form two major themes in the novel. Some of the minor themes are acting before thinking and denial of unexplainable events. It is based on the two major themes of science experiments gone wrong and the ignorance of society. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The most important theme in the novel was the experiment that Griffin, the invisible man, was working and it was not going exactly as planned. The way that the experiment

Private Foreign Capital in India Essay Example For Students

Private Foreign Capital in India Essay Private Foreign Capital in India-Macro EconomicsIndividual Project(Term Paper)Kaushik. PGreat Lakes Institute Of Management,Srinagar Colony, Off Raj Bhavan Road, 24, South Mada Street,Chennai 600015, IndiaProblem:Has Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) contributed to the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India?Null Hypothesis (Ho): There is no significant increase in growth of GDP due to FDI inflow in India. Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant increase in growth of GDP due to FDI inflow in India. Project Prcis:Definition:FDI:The acquisition abroad of physical assets such as plant and equipment, with operating control residing in the parent corporation. GDP:The sum total of all final goods and services produced within a country in a specified period of time. Foreign direct investment is an important source of capital, complements domestic private investment, and is usually associated with new job opportunities, enhancement of technology and boosts economic growth in host countries. Therefore foreign direct investment flows are increasingly looked as a panacea for all the development needs of developing countries. So, there is an increasingly intense competition among countries to attract FDI inflows so much so that governments see the magnitudes of FDI received as indicators of their success. Preliminary Literature Survey:Recent literature has shown that some may bring valuable benefits to their host economies, others may crowd-out domestic enterprises and actually reduce host country welfare. Studies have also shown that host government policies such as screening mechanisms, performance requirements, incentives and pro-active promotion play an important role in determining the quality of FDI inflows. Although FDI inflows into India have increased considerably since1991, its share would appear too small, especially if it is compared with that of other countries in the region such as China. India has been receiving FDI inflows of about $3 to 4 billion a year that represent a marginal under 2 per cent of total inflows attracted by developing countries. In contrast, China has been receiving over $45 billion of inflows representing nearly a quarter of total developing country FDI inflows. ParticularsChinaIndiaFDI Confidence Index score*(January 2000)1.451.14FDI Inflow (US $ b illions, 1998)45.52.3FDI Stock (US $ billions, 1998)261.113.2GDP (nominal US $ billions, 1999 estimate)993468.4* The FDI confidence index tracks the impact of likely political, economic and regulatory changes on the foreign direct investment intentions and preferences of the leaders of some of the worlds leading companies. Two parameters i.e. Attractiveness and Current are considered for probable FDI inflow. From the diagram it is evident that India is average on Attractiveness and average on Current too. India scores well above countries like Indonesia, Thailand etc in terms of the parameters. Therefore India, as a wandering aspirant, has a great potential in the years to come. Analysis:The relationship between FDI inflows and GDP growth can be found out by using correlation between GDP and FDI. YEARGDP (%) FDI (%)94-957.312295-967.364.6496-977.853.2597-984.837.4298-996.6-1.5499-20006.46.512000-20015.235.372001-20025.3-0.862002-20034.452.1Correlation Coefficient0.3617 signifies that there exists a positive correlation or relationship between the inflow of FDI and growth of GDP. This relationship can be further explained with the help of a chart below. Conclusion:The paper is aimed to sow a seed that FDI and GDP are related to each other. Correlation is used to verify the hypothesis that FDI inflow contributes to GDP growth. Other literature survey also confirms this fact. Basically, India is compared with China to prove that with similar factors such as low cost of production, very high population etc and how FDI helps in Chinas growth. There is a long-run relationship between GDP and FDI and this remains an important challenge for future researchReferences/Sources:www.indiastat.comhttp://www.aeaweb.org/journal/http://www.iimcal.ac.in/imz/imz-archive/Readings:www.rbi.org.inwww.indiainfoline.comThe Economic Times.