Tropic of Cancer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tropic of Cancer
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For the novel by Henry Miller, see Tropic of Cancer (novel). For the BBC TV series, see Tropic of Cancer (BBC TV series).
Coordinates: 232616N 000W? / ?23.43778N 0E? / 23.43778; 0? (Prime Meridian)
World map showing the Tropic of Cancer
The Tropic of Cancer, also referred to as the Northern tropic, is the circle of latitude on the Earth that marks the most northerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead at its zenith. This event occurs once per year, at the time of the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun to its maximum extent.
Its Southern Hemisphere counterpart, marking the most southerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead, is the Tropic of Capricorn. These tropics are two of the five major degree measures or major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth, besides the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and the Equator. The positions of these circles of latitude (other than the Equator) are dictated by the tilt of the Earth's axis of rotation relative to the plane of its orbit.
Contents
1 Name
2 Geography
3 Climate
4 Circumnavigation
5 External links
6 See also
7 Notes
[edit] Name
Road sign South of Dakhla, Western Sahara (claimed by Morocco) marking the Tropic of Cancer. The sign was placed by the Budapest-Bamako rally participants, thus the non-English inscription is in Hungarian.
Tropic of cancer passes through National Highway 34 in Nadia District, West Bengal, India
The imaginary line is called the Tropic of Cancer because when it was named, the Sun was in the direction of the constellation Cancer (Latin for crab) at the June solstice. However, this is no longer true due to the precession of the equinoxes. According to International Astronomical Union boundaries, the Sun now is in Taurus at the June solstice. According to sidereal astrology, which divides the zodiac into 12 equal parts, the Sun is in Gemini at that time. The word "tropic" itself comes from the Greek ӦѦϦ? (tropi), meaning turn, referring to the fact that the Sun appears to "turn back" at the solstices.
[edit] Geography
Carretera 83 (Va Corta) Zaragoza-Victoria, Km 27+800. In all crossings of the Tropic of Cancer with Mexican federal highways, this is the only place where the latitude is marked with absolute precision and where the annual drift between 2005 and 2010 can be appreciated.
The Tropic of Cancer currently (Epoch 2011) lies 23 26 16 north of the Equator.[1] Its position is not fixed, but varies in a complicated manner over time. It is presently drifting south at the rate of almost half a second (0.47) of latitude per year (it was at exactly 23? 27' in year 1917).[2] See circles of latitude for further information.
North of Tropic of Cancer are the subtropics and the North Temperate Zone. The equivalent line of latitude south of the Equator is called the Tropic of Capricorn, and the region between the two, centered on the Equator, is the tropics.
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Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the Tropic of Cancer passes through:
Co-ordinates
Country, territory or sea
Notes
2326N 00E? / ?23.433N 0E? / 23.433; 0? (Prime Meridian)
Algeria
2326N 1151E? / ?23.433N 11.85E? / 23.433; 11.85? (Niger)
Niger
2326N 1217E? / ?23.433N 12.283E? / 23.433; 12.283? (Libya)
Libya
The Tropic touches on the northernmost point of Chad at 2326N 1559E? / ?23.433N 15.983E? / 23.433; 15.983? (Northernmost point of Chad)
2326N 250E? / ?23.433N 25E? / 23.433; 25? (Egypt)
Egypt
2326N 3530E? / ?23.433N 35.5E? / 23.433; 35.5? (Red Sea)
Red Sea
2326N 3838E? / ?23.433N 38.633E? / 23.433; 38.633? (Saudi Arabia)
Saudi Arabia
2326N 528E? / ?23.433N 52.133E? / 23.433; 52.133? (United Arab Emirates)
United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi emirate only
2326N 5524E? / ?23.433N 55.4E? / 23.433; 55.4? (Oman)
Oman
2326N 5846E? / ?23.433N 58.767E? / 23.433; 58.767? (Indian Ocean)
Indian Ocean
Arabian Sea
2326N 6823E? / ?23.433N 68.383E? / 23.433; 68.383? (India)
India
States of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal
2326N 8847E? / ?23.433N 88.783E? / 23.433; 88.783? (Bangladesh)
Bangladesh
Khulna, Dhaka, and Chittagong Divisions
2326N 9114E? / ?23.433N 91.233E? / 23.433; 91.233? (India)
India
State of Tripura
2326N 9156E? / ?23.433N 91.933E? / 23.433; 91.933? (Bangladesh)
Bangladesh
Chittagong Division
2326N 9219E? / ?23.433N 92.317E? / 23.433; 92.317? (India)
India
State of Mizoram
2326N 9323E? / ?23.433N 93.383E? / 23.433; 93.383? (Myanmar)
Myanmar (Burma)
Chin State, Sagaing Division, Mandalay Division, Shan State
2326N 9854E? / ?23.433N 98.9E? / 23.433; 98.9? (China)
China
Provinces of Yunnan (passing about 7km north of the border with Vietnam), Guangxi, and Guangdong
2326N 1178E? / ?23.433N 117.133E? / 23.433; 117.133? (Taiwan Strait)
Taiwan Strait
2326N 1208E? / ?23.433N 120.133E? / 23.433; 120.133? (Taiwan)
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Chiayi County, Hualien County
2326N 12129E? / ?23.433N 121.483E? / 23.433; 121.483? (Pacific Ocean)
Pacific Ocean
Passing just south of Necker Island, Hawaii, United States
2326N 11015W? / ?23.433N 110.25W? / 23.433; -110.25? (Mexico)
Mexico
State of Baja California Sur
2326N 10924W? / ?23.433N 109.4W? / 23.433; -109.4? (Gulf of California)
Gulf of California
2326N 10635W? / ?23.433N 106.583W? / 23.433; -106.583? (Mexico)
Mexico
States of Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, San Luis Potos, Nuevo Len, and Tamaulipas
2326N 9745W? / ?23.433N 97.75W? / 23.433; -97.75? (Gulf of Mexico)
Gulf of Mexico
2326N 830W? / ?23.433N 83W? / 23.433; -83? (Atlantic Ocean)
Atlantic Ocean
Passing through the Straits of Florida and the Nicholas Channel
Passing just south of the Anguilla Cays ( Bahamas)
Passing through the Santaren Channel and into the open ocean
2326N 760W? / ?23.433N 76W? / 23.433; -76? (Bahamas)
Bahamas
Exuma Islands and Long Island
2326N 7510W? / ?23.433N 75.167W? / 23.433; -75.167? (Atlantic Ocean)
Atlantic Ocean
2326N 1557W? / ?23.433N 15.95W? / 23.433; -15.95? (Western Sahara)
Western Sahara
Claimed by Morocco
2326N 120W? / ?23.433N 12W? / 23.433; -12? (Mauritania)
Mauritania
2326N 623W? / ?23.433N 6.383W? / 23.433; -6.383? (Mali)
Mali
2326N 223W? / ?23.433N 2.383W? / 23.433; -2.383? (Algeria)
Algeria
[edit] Climate
Excluding cooler highland regions in Mexico and China, the climate at the Tropic of Cancer is generally hot and dry except for easterly coastal areas where orographic rainfall can be very heavy, in some places reaching 4 metres (160 in). Most regions on the Tropic of Cancer experience two distinct season: an extremely hot summer with temperatures often reaching 45 C (113 F) and a warm winter with maxima around 22 C (72 F). Most land on or near the Tropic of Cancer is part of the Sahara Desert, whilst to the east the climate is torrid monsoonal with a short wet season from June to September and very little rainfall for the rest of the year.
The highest mountain on or adjacent to the Tropic of Cancer is Yushan in Taiwan; though it had glaciers descending as low as 2,800 metres (9,190 ft) during the Last Glacial Maximum, none survive and at present no glaciers exist within 350 kilometres (220 mi); the nearest currently surviving are in the Himalayas to the north and Iztacchuatl to the south.
[edit] Circumnavigation
According to the Fdration Aronautique Internationale's rules, for a flight to compete for a round-the-world speed record, it must cover a distance no less than the length of the Tropic of Cancer, as well as cross all of the meridians, and end on the same airfield where it started.
To calculate the length of the Tropic:
At present (2011) the radius of the circle will be 6 378 x cos(23? 26 16) which results in 5 851.77 km
Then, = 3.1416 x 2 x 5851.77 which amounts to 36 767.8413
Therefore, assuming the Earth to be a perfect sphere, the length of the circumference at the parallel of the Tropics would be 36 768 km
For an ordinary circumnavigation the rules are somewhat relaxed and the distance is set to a rounded value of at least 37,000 kilometers.
[edit] External links
Look up tropic of cancer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Article on the Tropic of Cancer in Oman
Temporal Epoch Calculations
Useful constants" See: Obliquity of the ecliptic
[edit] See also
23rd parallel north
24th parallel north
Tropic of Capricorn
Antarctic Circle
Arctic Circle
Axial tilt
Equator
Milankovitch cycles
Ducking and shaving
[edit] Notes
^ Trpico en movimiento (in Spanish)
^ Montana State University: Milankovitch Cycles & Glaciation
v  d  eCircles of latitude / Meridians
Equator
Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Capricorn
Arctic Circle
Antarctic Circle
Equator
Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Capricorn
Arctic Circle
Antarctic Circle
Equator
Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Capricorn
Arctic Circle
Antarctic Circle
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