The earth's axis points to the same spot in the sky as the earth orbits the sun. This relationship can be divided into four points of interest. <span>1) When the earth's north pole is pointing at its maximum amount away from the sun. That is the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. </span> <span>2) Six months later, the north pole is now tilted most *toward* the sun. This is the NH summer solstice. </span> <span>3,4) The points halfway between those are where the polar axis is "sideways" to the sun. The sun is on a direct line from the center of the earth through the equator. These are the two equinoxes. </span>
<span>To illustrate this, take a globe and move it in a circle around some central point, with the angle of the polar tilt always pointed in the same direction. </span>
<u>As the Earth revolves around the Sun, and as the Earth rotates on its axis</u>, <em><u>which is tilted 23.5 degrees</u></em>, <u>the sunlight reaches the planet in different degrees, and that is why we have different seasons around the world</u>.
<u>The solstice is when the sun is at its highest or lowest point in the hemisphere, and from that day, the days of sunlight are longer or shorter</u>, <u><em>in the winter and summer solstices</em></u>.
<u>The autumn and spring equinoxes are the days when the axis of the Earth is as straight as possible and the sun's rays fall on the equator</u>. <em><u>While in one hemisphere it is spring, in the other it will be autumn.</u></em>