What is the angular inclination of the Earth's rotational axis relative to its solar orbital plane?

Question

This question popped up in a discussion with a coworker regarding the seasons. As I recall, the angular inclination is approx 13 degrees relative to the Earth’s solar orbital plane, I believe; I’m not certain of this, though. Additionally, I tend to believe that the angle is somewhat constant.

My coworker disagrees, though. He accounts for the seasons by believing the pitch/angle varies throughout the year. But I asked, what phenomenon occurs that is great enough to pitch the Earth up to 13° (or whatever the angle is) in one direction, reverse direction, and then pitch it 13° in the opposite direction? The force required to do this would be tremendous.

I contend that the angle is constant. When the North pole is pitched toward the Sun, the northern hemisphere has its warmer months. At the opposite end of the Earth’s orbit about the sun, the North pole would be pitched away from the Sun, thus the colder months.

Can anyone shine some light on this topic? Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

23.4 degrees

Answer 2

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RE:
What is the angular inclination of the Earth's rotational axis relative to its solar orbital plane?
This question popped up in a discussion with a coworker regarding the seasons. As I recall, the angular inclination is approx 13 degrees relative to the Earth’s solar orbital plane, I believe; I’m not certain of this, though. Additionally, I tend to believe that the angle is somewhat...

Answer 3

"The Earth has an axial tilt of about 23° 27’. The axis is tilted in the same direction throughout a year; however, as the Earth orbits the Sun, the hemisphere (half part of earth) tilted away from the Sun will gradually come to be tilted towards the Sun, and vice versa."

"Through time, axial precession changes the position of the Earth in its orbit at which the seasons occur (precession of the equinoxes). This has little effect on the amount of solar influx (insolation) during times when the orbit is circular, but can have large effects on the strength of the seasons when the Earth's orbit is somewhat elliptical (see Milankovitch cycles)."

"The obliquity of the ecliptic is not a fixed quantity but changing over time. It is a very slow effect, and at the level of accuracy at which astronomers work, does need to be taken into account on a daily basis. Note that the obliquity and the precession of the equinoxes are calculated from the same theory and are thus related to each other. A smaller ε means a larger p (precession in longitude) and vice versa. Yet the two movements act independent from each other, going in mutually perpendicular directions."

Answer 4

Your co-worker is sort of right. The inclination of the rotational axis to the orbital plane is 23.5 degrees. This is also why the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are at 23.5 degrees north and south latitude respectively. This is also why the arctic and antarctic cricles are at 66.5 degreess north and south latitude.

The rotational inclination does change but does so over a long period of time, and it's more of a wobble.

When the arctic is tilted toward the sun (in June) the arctic has continuous light, and the antarctic (pointed away) has continuous dark. The opposite occurs in December (the day before yesterday, in fact). The closer you are to the pole, the longer this phenomena lasts.

The seasons are due to lower radiant energy falling on the part tilted away shining less light, and less heat. It isn't as simple as that, since you have oceans and air to deal with, but that's the crux of it.

Answer 5

Our plane is tilted when compared to the sun's equatorial plane. It is just that our plane is the first one we identified (in fact, early astronomers thought it was the plane of the Sun's orbit, as it went around the fixed Earth). So we (humans) started counting inclinations from our orbital plane and we never bothered to change it (we would not change unless we found another plane that was more useful as a measurement base). Actually, what we now use is the "average" orbital plane of Earth over centuries. In 2007, Earth's true orbital plane is 0.0009 degrees from this average. This "wobble" has been known for some time (historic, even) and a good part of it is due to something called "lunation" over a 19 year cycle.

Answer 6

23.5 degrees as others replied. The season changes because due to the tilt, the duration of day and night changes from time to time in a year. When a certain hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, it is summer in that hemispher and winter in the opposite one and vice-versa. When none of the hemispheres are tilted towards the sun, then it is either Spring or Autumn.

The tilt does not change with time, however the direction of the tilt does change circumscribing a circle on the sky with the end of the axis and that causes precession of the equinoxes. This happens in approximately 28,000 years cycle.

Answer 7

The angle is approximately 23.5 degrees. It varies slightly in a 41,000 year cycle. The angle does not vary over the year. On December 21, the northern hemisphere is most pointed away from the Sun. On June 21, at the opposite side of the orbit, it is most pointed towards the Sun. The north star is the best fixed reference point.

Answer 8

The angle of inclination is about 23.4 degrees, plus or minus about 1.3 degrees over the centuries. You are correct in that the angle is basically constant, and the changes in the seasons are caused by the way the angle changes relative to the sun as the earth orbits the sun.

Answer 9

its actually off by 23.5 degrees, because of that it does cause the different seasons. putting less atmosphere between suns rays and the ground makes it warmer in summer and colder in winter when the rays go thru more atmosphere