Major Lines of Latitude (or Parallels) The five major parallels of latitudes from north to south are called: Arctic Circle, Tropic of Cancer, Equator, Tropic of Capricorn, and the Antarctic Circle. Five major parallels of latitudes.

Parallels are identified by degrees; the equator is 0 degrees, the North Pole is 90 degrees north, the South Pole 90 degrees south. The parallel lines that run east to west on a map measure the distance, by degrees, from north to south.

The imaginary lines circling the globe in an east-west direction are called the lines of latitude (or parallels, as they are parallel to the equator). They are used to measure distances north and south of the equator. The lines circling the globe in a north-south direction are called lines of longitude (or meridians).

Longitude is the measurement east or west of the prime meridian. Longitude is measured by imaginary lines that run around the Earth vertically (up and down) and meet at the North and South Poles. These lines are known as meridians. Each meridian measures one arcdegree of longitude.

Axis an imaginary line that passes through the North and South Poles.

Imagine a line passing through the center of Earth that goes through both the North Pole and the South Pole. This imaginary line is called an axis. This spinning movement is called Earth’s rotation. At the same time that the Earth spins on its axis, it also orbits, or revolves around the Sun.

Tropic of Cancer is an imaginary line, at an angle of 23.50 degrees North from the Equator, that passes through the middle of India.

The Earth’s axis passes through the North Pole, the center of Earth, and the South Pole.

The Equator is the invisible line that runs around the center of the Earth at 0 degrees latitude. An equator is an imaginary line around the middle of a planet or other celestial body.

It’s all in the tilt All the planets in our solar system have a tilted axis, which means all our planets have seasons – however, the seasons vary greatly in length, diversity and severity. “The greater the tilt in the axis, the more extreme the seasons are.”

Basic facts

• Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system.
• Saturn is about nine times Earth’s radius and is characterized by large rings; how they formed is unknown.
• Uranus has a radius about four times that of Earth’s.
• Neptune also has a radius about four times that of Earth’s.

Uranus

The color of Uranus and Neptune is similar, but not identical. Uranus appears greener and Neptune bluer.

Jupiter is the fastest spinning planet in our Solar System rotating on average once in just under 10 hours. That is very fast especially considering how large Jupiter is. This means that Jupiter has the shortest days of all the planets in the Solar System.

Neptune’s atmosphere is made up of hydrogen, helium and methane. The methane in Neptune’s upper atmosphere absorbs the red light from the sun but reflects the blue light from the Sun back into space. This is why Neptune appears blue.