An interesting question appeared on the Geography Forum, "How did the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn get their names?"
The answer is that The Tropic of Cancer was named because at the time of its naming, the sun was positioned in the Cancer constellation during the June solstice. Likewise, the Tropic of Capricorn was named because the sun was in the constellation Capricorn during the December solstice. The naming took place about 2000 years ago and the sun is no longer in those constellations At the June solstice, the sun is in Taurus and at the December solstice, the sun is in Sagittarius.
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what? i wanted to know what is capricorn & cancer lines of latitude or longitude
Very interesting stuff. Fascinating. I always thought how stupid it was to believe in the star signs creating peoples natures. Because the constallations have altered, itjust goes to prove how silly the astrology belief is!!
@Eileen: no-one said the Constellations have altered! What HAS been said is that the position of our sun AT THE TIME OF THE TWO SOLSTICES has altered over the millenia simply due to the fact that our Universe is expanding. And no, the star signs do NOT create people’s natures. They simply indicate some of the major Universal influences on individuals up to (and beyond) the time of their birth: to these must be added Genetic, Environmental and Destinic factors. In a holographic universe, this makes total and perfect sense.
@Max: the reason why the position of the Sun has apparently moved has nothing to do with the expansion of the Universe. The reason is the gradual shift in the orientation of the Earth’s axis of rotation. Please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_precession_%28astronomy%29
wow my teacher told me it had something to do with a crab/im cunfused
I am doing a project for school, and i am still not sure about something. Does the tropic of cancer have anything to do with cancer? the disease? not the horoscope? please help! thanks!
The tropic lines have NOTHING to do with cancer the disease, and the only reason they are associated with a crab is because Cancer’s symbol is the crab (Capricorn’s symbol is the goat-fish thing).
The tropic lines are so named because during the solstices ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solstice ) the sun is aligned in a certain part of the sky, depending on the tilt and position of the earth in our little galaxy.
The tilt of the earth, however gradually changes, as we spin on our axis, the north pole follows a circular swing patter, much like when a gyroscope slows down and begins to wobble. This means the tilt of the earth now puts the position of the sun reliative to our view in a different part of the sky, and thereofre are now in Taurus and Saggitatius, and not in Cancer and Capricorn.
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By the way, the name of the Cancer Tropic should be Gemini Tropic not, Taurus Tropic. You were right to say that the Capricorn Tropic is now Sagittarius Tropic!
This really helped me! Thanks for the information-it’s really interesting and I’m sure my social studies teacher will think so too! He said he’d give me chocolate or something if I found out why the Tropics of Capricorn/Cancer-so thanks again(:
The tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are named after the astrological signs, *not* the constellations! (Anyways, if you are are good at astronomy you should know that the constellation is called Capricornus, not Capricorn.) Cancer and Capricorn are the astrological signs corresponding to 90 and 270 degrees of ecliptic longitude, respectively. The ecliptic longitude is 0 (Aries) at the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere, which is one of the two intersections of the ecliptic with the equator (right ascension is also measured from there, and is called 0 hours).
So, yes, it *does* have to do with the horoscope. I agree that the belief of astrology is silly, but thinking it is silly due to things like this, is a logical fallacy. Please disagree with things logically, instead of illogically. Just because something is named after the same things does not make it the same thing (astrological signs are named after 12 of the 13 constellations on the ecliptic, and they were never exactly aligned with them). Anyways, the month October is no longer the eighth month, but is still called that, OK? That it the similar of using degrees/signs for ecliptic longitude like you use days/months for the calendar.