Physical Geography

The equator receives equal day and night throughout the year because it does not tilt in relation to the sun’s location. Because of the tilted axis of the Earth,

The atmosphere of Uranus is composed of 83% hydrogen, 15% helium, 2% methane and small amounts of acetylene and other hydrocarbons. Methane in the upper atmosphere absorbs red light, giving Uranus its blue-green colour.

21-23 December, also known as winter solstice, is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. India, being in the northern hemisphere, experiences its shortest day and longest night on this very day.

When the Sun is vertically above the equator, the day is of equal length all over Earth. This happens twice a year, and these are the “equinoxes” in March and in September. Between the two tropic zones, which includes the equator, the Sun is directly overhead twice per year.

Metamorphic rocks are rocks that have “morphed” into another kind of rock. These rocks were once igneous or sedimentary rocks. How do sedimentary and igneous rocks change? The rocks are under tons and tons of pressure, which fosters heat build-up, and this causes them to change.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets between Earth and the sun, and the moon casts a shadow over Earth. A solar eclipse can only take place at the phase of new moon, when the moon passes directly between the sun and Earth and its shadows fall upon Earth’s surface.

An equator is the intersection of a sphere’s surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere’s axis of rotation and containing the sphere’s center of mass. Notably, the Equator refers to the Earth’s equator, per above: an imaginary line on the Earth’s surface equidistant from the North Pole and South Pole, dividing the Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere.

Deserts take up about one third (33%) of the Earth’s land surface. Hot deserts usually have a large diurnal and seasonal temperature range, with high daytime temperatures, and low nighttime temperatures (due to extremely low humidity).

Latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the Earth's surface. The lines of constant latitude, or parallels, run east–west as circles parallel to the equator. Latitude is an angle (defined below) which ranges from 0° at the Equator to 90° (North or South) at the poles.

It is six months long day in the northern polar region and six months long night in the southern polar region because Earth is inclined towards its orbital plane.

The latitude of a place expresses its angular position relative to the plane of equator.

Our planet's rotation produces a force on all bodies moving relative to the Earth. Due to Earth's approximately spherical shape, this force is greatest at the poles and least at the Equator. The force, called the "Coriolis effect," causes the direction of winds and ocean currents to be deflected.

The seasons in the Southern Hemisphere are actually less extreme than in the Northern Hemisphere. The reason is because the Southern hemisphere has more seas, while the Northern has more land mass and land mass retains more heat.

During a solar eclipse, the Moon actually casts two shadows toward Earth. One shadow is called the umbra which becomes smaller as it reaches the Earth. This is the dark center of the Moon's shadow.