Tropic of Cancer

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Tropic of Cancer

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Tropic of Cancer parallel of latitude at 23°30′ north of the equator; it is the northern boundary of the tropics . This parallel marks the farthest point north at which the sun can be seen directly overhead at noon; north of the parallel the sun appears less than 90° from the southern horizon at any day of the year. The sun reaches its vertical position over the Tropic of Cancer at about June 22, the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. When the Tropic of Cancer was named, the sun was in the constellation Cancer at the time of the summer solstice.

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Tropic of Cancer

A Dictionary of Astronomy | 1997 | © A Dictionary of Astronomy 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Tropic of Cancer The latitude on Earth at which the Sun lies directly overhead at noon on the June solstice, when it reaches its most northerly declination. The Tropic of Cancer lies at a latitude of about 23½° north.

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The Tropic of Cancer: the complete guide to The Tropic of Cancer Midsummer means you must take care when 23 degrees and 27 minutes north of the Equator: on 21 June the sun is directly overhead at noon, defining the Tropic of Cancer. This invisible line of latitude offers a world of opportunities - just remember a hat.
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 6/16/2001; ; 700+ words ; WHY THE STRANGE NAME? Cancer is the Latin word for crab...Meridian (longitude zero), the Tropic of Cancer is in Algeria. Not...crossing the Arabian Sea, the Tropic journeys through India, Bangladesh...crossing the Atlantic. The Tropic makes landfall in West Africa...
Heishiding -a wonderland along the Tropic of Cancer
Newspaper article from: China Daily; 4/28/2006; ; 570 words ; ...largest virgin forests near the Tropic of Cancer. Covering an area of more...other places that neighbour the Tropic of Cancer. The north latitude...the northern boundary of the tropics. Its parallel marks the farthest...vertical position at noon over the Tropic of Cancer ...
THE TROPIC OF CANCER: ECLIPSED BY THE TROPIC OF CAPRICORN
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 6/16/2001; ; 591 words ; ...cover much the same area as this, favouring the Tropic of Capricorn once more. The Tropic of Cancer gets its own back in 2006 and 2009. The former...before ending with the sunset almost at the Tropic of Capricorn. The next total eclipse visible...
Guangxi Builds Tower to Mark Tropic of Cancer
Newspaper article from: Xinhua English Newswire; 3/26/1997; 350 words ; A tower to mark the Tropic of Cancer, located at 23.26 degrees north latitude the borderline of the tropic and temperate zones has been built...India, are the only areas along the Tropic of Cancer that have pleasant weather...
Publisher refuses to perish quietly Battle continues for man who fought for `Tropic of Cancer,' `Naked Lunch'
Newspaper article from: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; 1/22/1998; ; 700+ words ; ...life, of the battles to publish "Tropic of Cancer" and "Lady Chatterley's Lover...Lady Chatterley's Lover" and "Tropic of Cancer," by Henry Miller...to let Grove Press distribute "Tropic of Cancer" in the United States...
Tropic of Cancer By Henry Miller
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 6/26/2009; ; 658 words ; ...turned the wrong way round with the spine hidden was Tropic of Cancer (1934) by Henry Miller. Their idea was, no doubt...Beneath a cherry tree, I started again to read Tropic of Cancer. What came across was not the graphic sex or the...
Sole Tropical Rain Forest Near Tropic of Cancer under Protection
Newspaper article from: Xinhua English Newswire; 6/12/1998; 409 words ; ...to protect the sole tropical rain forest near the Tropic of Cancer by establishing a nature reserve." The tropical...Province, is the sole tropical rain forest left near the Tropic of Cancer, and it is also the one at the highest latitude on...
Literary text, cinematic "edition": adaptation, textual authority, and the filming of Tropic of Cancer.(Critical essay)
Magazine article from: College Literature; 6/22/2007; ; 700+ words ; ...Strick's controversial adaptation of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer provides just such an example, as Miller's novel...the narrator than it does about the object itself. Tropic of Cancer, dependent as it is on effusive language and interior...
South- Way South- Of the Border; Beyond the Tropic of Cancer Lies Mexico's Land of the Endless Summer
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 11/1/1987; ; 700+ words ; ...winding estuaries, extravagant jungle. You have crossed the Tropic of Cancer, that invisible boundary 23 1/2 degrees north of the Equator...the lands of frost and fire, the temperate zone from the tropics. Welcome to Endless Summer, with its rain forests, orchids...
Town of Swallows on Tropic of Cancer
Newspaper article from: Xinhua English Newswire; 6/22/1996; 488 words ; ...plagued by mosquitoes, and persecuted by their nasty bites. But in China's Mojiang township - which lies on the Tropic of Cancer - a strange phenomenon has given locals a respite from the insect invaders. Up to half a million swallows have decided...
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