Why is a year four seasons long?

[sdifox]

How is anyone this fucking stupid?

You must be new to the internet..

 

[Anubis]

An Asteroid-strike.-Probably the Same one that formed the Moon.

that's no moon

 

[Jeff7]

Another theory is that earth crossed paths with another planet that was forming. Some people tend to like this one better since it explains why most of the iron is in the core. An asteroid impact probably wouldn't have penetrated deeply enough to mix in the iron that was probably in both. At least I think that's the way the theory goes.

edit: I think I screwed that up - here's what I was trying to say

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_impact_hypothesis

Also just wobbling. If I'm remembering right, the Moon also serves to help stabilize our axis to keep it from getting worse.



...yes, here's what I was thinking of: Instability in the axial tilt of Mars.
And here's a Wiki-linked PDF. The second page shows a modeled axial tilt tilt over a long time.

Venus and Mercury are stabilized by the Sun. (Ignoring that Venus is rotating backwards from everyone else.) Earth's got a large moon.

Mars don't care, it does what it
wants. It'll probably destroy Phobos in several million years.

 

[Chiropteran]

next question:

Explain how seasons work in Westeros, because it's been "almost winter" for way too long.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

There is no "horizontal".

how stupid: of course there is: relative to the rotational plain of the earth. Or the orbital plain.

That's how we can say the earth is "tilted".

Don't contradict yourself.

 

[Charmonium]

how stupid: of course there is: relative to the rotational plain of the earth. Or the orbital plain.

That's how we can say the earth is "tilted".

Don't contradict yourself.

The earth's orbital plane isn't really an issue since the sun is a sphere and so the energy output is going to be more or less the same regardless of earth's orbit.

So imagine the earth orbiting the sun at a 90 degree angle to the rest of the planets. So the earth would seem to be rotating on it's side from the point of view of the planetary plane. You would still have the same seasons as long as the tilt of the earth relative to its orbital plane was still 23.5 degrees.

This is ignoring the fact that you'd be orbiting the sun's poles and energy output at those points probably isn't the same as orbiting near plane described by the sun's equator.

 

[mundane]

next question:

Explain how seasons work in Westeros, because it's been "almost winter" for way too long.

The show's intro made the world look like the inside of a dyson sphere. If the enclosed star/ energy source offered inconsistent periods in increasing/decreasing intensity, you might get the occasional very long 'season'.

 

[dullard]

One thing I always found odd is how spring/fall are so long, they are only transitional seasons, the actual weather only lasts about a month.

Weather wise, this would probably make more sense if it was something like this:

Summer: June-August
Fall: September
Winter: October-April
Spring: May

Right now, I think first day of winter is what, in like December? That's more like middle of winter. Winter weather starts in like October usually.

It does depend on your location (someone on the equator wouldn't really care about the cutoffs as much as someone in Canada). But, I too think the dates are not very well suited for what we normally think of seasons. Winter doesn't start for another week, but many places are now completely covered in snow.

I personally would just shift all seasons back about 3 weeks. F the solstice and equinox -- they are outdated and useless to today's society. I'd think these would be a much better seasons:

Summer: June 1 to August 31 (when it is hottest out in the northern hemisphere, school is generally out, etc.)

Fall: September 1 to November 30 (when generally the leaves are turning colors and falling off in the northern hemisphere)

Winter: December 1 to February 28/29 (when the bulk of the snow occurs in the northern hemisphere)

Spring: March 1 to May 31 (when plants and flowers are generally springing up from the ground in the northern hemisphere)

Again, this is location dependent, since the further north you go the bigger the swings. But, in general, these dates match up much better with the weather and weather-based events (like the school year).

 

[IronWing]

It does depend on your location (someone on the equator wouldn't really care about the cutoffs as much as someone in Canada). But, I too think the dates are not very well suited for what we normally think of seasons. Winter doesn't start for another week, but many places are now completely covered in snow.

I personally would just shift all seasons back about 3 weeks. F the solstice and equinox -- they are outdated and useless to today's society. I'd think these would be a much better seasons:

Summer: June 1 to August 31 (when it is hottest out in the northern hemisphere, school is generally out, etc.)

Fall: September 1 to November 30 (when generally the leaves are turning colors and falling off in the northern hemisphere)

Winter: December 1 to February 28/29 (when the bulk of the snow occurs in the northern hemisphere)

Spring: March 1 to May 31 (when plants and flowers are generally springing up from the ground in the northern hemisphere)

Again, this is location dependent, since the further north you go the bigger the swings. But, in general, these dates match up much better with the weather and weather-based events (like the school year).

Just go back to the traditional seasonal calendar using the cross quarter holidays to mark the beginnings and ends of seasons:
Winter: Halloween to Groundhog Day
Spring: Groundhog Day to May Day
Summer: May Day to Lammas
Fall: Lammas to Halloween

 

[BurnItDwn]

When a "Year" was defined, it was one rotation of the sun around the earth.

 

[x26]

Dear Stoops, (I Mean Dixiecrat)

Please Watch: "History of The World in Two Hours"

Watch it and present any Questions you have for our Fine Crew of AT Scientistsggggggg.

Thank You
Yours Truly
x26

 

[x26]

As an Aside:

Researchers believe that seasons gave the Earth the Miracle of Life--
Without seasons life (as we know it) would not have happened.

 

[Charmonium]

Just go back to the traditional seasonal calendar using the cross quarter holidays to mark the beginnings and ends of seasons:
Winter: Halloween to Groundhog Day
Spring: Groundhog Day to May Day
Summer: May Day to Lammas
Fall: Lammas to Halloween

I'd vote for that. BTW, never heard of Lammas but that was interesting

 

[JTsyo]

Hopefully this will clarify how the tilt effects how much heat is received from the Sun.

The effect of axial tilt is observable as the change in day length and altitude of the Sun at noon (the culmination of the Sun) during a year. The low angle of Sun during the winter months means that incoming rays of solar radiation are spread over a larger area of the Earth's surface, so the light received is more indirect and of lower intensity. Lower intensity light is less able to heat the ground. Between this effect and the shorter daylight hours, the axial tilt of the Earth accounts for most of the seasonal variation in climate in both hemispheres.

 

[who?]

I always thought it was interesting that the earth is closer to the sun in winter than in summer.

Australians think that it's closer in summer.

 

[Charmonium]

Australians think that it's closer in summer.

True. But do we really care what the Ozzies think?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Speaking of Australia, when you are naughty there, does Santa just fill your stockings with spiders?

 

[John Connor]

How is anyone this fucking stupid?

Dixycrat didn't even know who Encyclopedia Brown was! He thought I was racist. BAHAHAHAHA!

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Speak of the Devil...

 

[Dr. Zaus]

The earth's orbital plane isn't really an issue since the sun is a sphere and so the energy output is going to be more or less the same regardless of earth's orbit.

So imagine the earth orbiting the sun at a 90 degree angle to the rest of the planets. So the earth would seem to be rotating on it's side from the point of view of the planetary plane. You would still have the same seasons as long as the tilt of the earth relative to its orbital plane was still 23.5 degrees.

This is ignoring the fact that you'd be orbiting the sun's poles and energy output at those points probably isn't the same as orbiting near plane described by the sun's equator.

Sure, but good point!

I suppose the question is "Is there a way we could have a longer orbit given he same radial distance from the Sun"

If we could move radially and only have the orbital distance go down, then we're at the 'middle'. If we could move, retaining the same radius, but the total orbital distance would go up, then we are above (or below if you prefer) the sun.

Dixycrat didn't even know who Encyclopedia Brown was! He thought I was racist. BAHAHAHAHA!

Micro-agression against Encyclopedia's implying that they have a low FICO score.

 

[MongGrel]

Dixycrat didn't even know who Encyclopedia Brown was! He thought I was racist. BAHAHAHAHA!

Speak of the Devil...

I think you all ready covered it.

 

[Charmonium]

I suppose the question is "Is there a way we could have a longer orbit given he same radial distance from the Sun" If we could move radially and only have the orbital distance go down, then we're at the 'middle'. If we could move, retaining the same radius, but the total orbital distance would go up, then we are above (or below if you prefer) the sun.

I don't understand what you mean. Technically, the earth's orbit is an ellipse. So you have 2 radii or focal points.

You can probably manipulate the focal points and either elongate the ellipse or force it to be more circular.