Tropic of Cancer

For the novel by Henry Miller, see Tropic of Cancer

(novel). For the BBC TV series, see Tropic of Cancer
(BBC TV series).

Coordinates: 23°26′16″N 0°0′0″W / 23.43778°N

−0.00000°E
150 120 90 60 30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180

60 60

30 30

23° 26’

0 0

Road sign South of Dakhla, Western Sahara marking the Tropic

of Cancer. The sign was placed by the Budapest-Bamako rally
30 30

60 60
participants, thus the inscription is in English and Hungarian.
150 120 90 60 30 0 30 60 90 120 150 180

World map showing the Tropic of Cancer

The Tropic of Cancer, also referred to as the North-

ern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on the
Earth at which the Sun may appear directly overhead at
its culmination. This event occurs once per year, at the
time of the Northern solstice, when the Northern Hemi-
sphere is tilted toward the Sun to its maximum extent.
As of 23 January 2015, it lies at 23°26′14.4″ north of the
Equator.[1]
Its Southern Hemisphere counterpart, marking the most
Tropic of Cancer passes through National Highway 34 in Nadia
southerly position at which the Sun may appear directly
District, West Bengal, India
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 which divides the zodiac into 12 equal parts, the Sun is in
and Antarctic Circles and the Equator. The positions of Gemini at that time. However, according to tropical as-
these circles of latitude (other than the Equator) are dic- trology, which divides the ecliptic in twelve 30° sectors,
tated by the tilt of the Earth’s axis of rotation relative to starting with the vernal equinox, the Sun is always enter-
the plane of its orbit. ing Cancer at this time, as the Earth’s axial tilt is most
inclined towards the Sun. The word “tropic” itself comes
from the Greek “trope (τροπή)", meaning turn (change of
1 Name direction, or circumstances), inclination, referring to the
fact that the sun appears to “turn back” at the solstices.
The imaginary line is called the Tropic of Cancer because
when the Sun reaches the zenith at this latitude, it is en-
tering the astrological sign of Cancer (summer solstice 2 Geography
in the northern hemisphere). When it was named, the
Sun was also in the direction of the constellation Cancer The Tropic of Cancer position is not fixed, but varies in
(Latin for crab). However, this is no longer true due to the a complicated manner over time.[2] It drifts south almost
precession of the equinoxes. According to International half a second (0.47″) of latitude per year (it was at exactly
Astronomical Union boundaries, the Sun now is in Taurus 23° 27′ in year 1917).[3] See circles of latitude for further
at the June solstice. According to sidereal astrology, information.

1
2 5 EXTERNAL LINKS

3 Climate
Excluding cooler highland regions in 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 seasons: an extremely hot summer with temper-
atures often reaching 45 °C (113 °F) and a warm winter
with maxima around 22 °C (72 °F). Much 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
Tropic of cancer passes through Madhya Pradesh 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 de-
scending as low as 2,800 metres (9,190 ft) during the
Last Glacial Maximum, none survive and at present no
glaciers exist within 470 kilometres (290 mi) of the
Tropic of Cancer; the nearest currently surviving are the
Minyong and Baishui in the Himalayas to the north and
on Iztaccíhuatl to the south.

4 Circumnavigation
According to the rules of the Fédération Aéronautique In-
Carretera 83 (Vía Corta) Zaragoza-Victoria, km 27+800. Of all
ternationale, for a flight to compete for a round-the-world
crossings of the Tropic of Cancer with Mexican federal highways, speed record, it must cover a distance no less than the
this is the only place where the latitude is marked with precision length of the Tropic of Cancer, cross all meridians, and
and where the annual drift between the years 2005 and 2010 can end on the same airfield where it started.
be appreciated. To calculate the length of the Tropic:

• At present, the radius of the Tropic of Cancer

(or Capricorn) circle, computed from the radius of
Earth’s equatorial circle, is 6378 km x cos(23° 26′
16″) which results in 5,851.77 kilometres (3,636.12
mi).

• Then the length of either Tropic circle is ℓ = π · 2r

= 3.1416 x 2 x 5851.77 which equals 36,768 kilo-
metres (22,847 mi).

• Therefore, assuming the Earth to be a perfect

sphere, the length of the circumference at the paral-
lel of the Tropic of Cancer or Capricorn is 36,768
kilometres (22,847 mi).
Tropic of cancer Mark in Rueisuei Township, Hualian County,
Taiwan
For an ordinary circumnavigation the rules are somewhat
relaxed and the distance is set to a rounded value of at
North of the tropic are the subtropics and the North Tem- least 37,000 kilometers.
perate 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. 5 External links
Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastward, the
Tropic of Cancer passes through: • Article on the Tropic of Cancer in Oman
 3

• Temporal Epoch Calculations

• Useful constants See: Obliquity of the ecliptic

6 See also
• 23rd parallel north

• 24th parallel north

• Tropic of Capricorn
• Antarctic Circle

• Arctic Circle
• Axial tilt

• Equator
• Milankovitch cycles

• Ducking and shaving

7 References
[1] “PHP Science Labs”. Retrieved 2014-01-01.

[2] obliquity of the ecliptic (Eps Mean)

[3] Montana State University: Milankovitch Cycles & Glacia-

tion
4 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text
• Tropic of Cancer Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropic%20of%20Cancer?oldid=643645713 Contributors: William Avery, Ja-
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