The Goldilocks Zone

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The Goldilocks Zone is the range around a star that’s not too hot or too cold to support liquid water. Liquid water is vital to sustaining life like we have on Earth, so fortunately for us, Earth sits in the Goldilocks Zone.

Consider the alternatives:

If we lived too close to the sun, we’d roast. The average temperatures on Mercury and Venus are hot enough to boil water (and then some).
And on Mars, the next planet farther out than Earth, the average temperature sits at -85 degrees F (-65 degrees C)— cold enough to freeze water solid.

If you want to look for planets that might support life as we know it in distant star systems, looking for worlds occupying Goldilocks Zones is a promising start.

This sketch, along with plenty of others in the "Starry-Eyed Surprises" section, features in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures

Also see:

Published 25 Mar 2017

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Seasons

Eponym

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The Earth’s tilt causes the changing seasons. As the Earth revolves around the sun, the tilt of its axis—23.5 degrees—causes the two hemispheres, North and South, to be either tilted towards the sun or away from it at different times of the year. In Winter, because light from the sun hits at a greater angle and closer to the poles, the solar energy gets spread over a larger area. This makes it weaker and cooler and gives rise to colder weather (aka winter). In summer, the sun's light hits more directly and is closer to the equator, so it’s concentrated on a smaller area, leading to hotter days. Because of the tile of the earth, seasons are reversed in the two hemispheres, so if it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s summer in the Southern and vice-versa. The further from the equator you go, the bigger the effect of the seasons. As an example, temperatures in Ecuador stay relatively constant throughout the year, while the poles experience extremes of 24-hour daylight or 24-hour night and great freezes and thaws. A version of this sketch, along with a number of other planetary and seasonal ideas, features in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures Also see: Autumn leaves Equinox Solstice…The Earth’s tilt causes the changing seasons. As the Earth revolves around the sun, the tilt of its axis—23.5 degrees—causes the two hemispheres, North and South, to be either tilted towards the sun or away from it at different times of the year. In Winter, because light from the sun hits at a greater angle and closer to the poles, the solar energy gets spread over a larger area. This makes it weaker and cooler and gives rise to colder weather (aka winter). In summer, the sun's light hits more directly and is closer to the equator, so it’s concentrated on a smaller area, leading to hotter days. Because of the tile of the earth, seasons are reversed in the two hemispheres, so if it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s summer in the Southern and vice-versa. The further from the equator you go, the bigger the effect of the seasons. As an example, temperatures in Ecuador stay relatively constant throughout the year, while the poles experience extremes of 24-hour daylight or 24-hour night and great freezes and thaws. A version of this sketch, along with a number of other planetary and seasonal ideas, features in my book Big Ideas Little Pictures Also see: Autumn leaves Equinox Solstice

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