Astronomy for Astrologers
The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
The diagram on this page should help you see the
difference between these two systems. Be sure you can
understand the following statements:
- The Earth always stays in the plane of the ecliptic.
- The North Pole of the Earth is tilted toward the plane
of the ecliptic, by an angle of 23 1/2° in the direction of
zero-degrees Cancer. - This polar tilt is permanent, although it changes
somewhat over a long period of time. - As the Earth moves around the Sun, the North Pole
always points in the same direction. - That direction amounts to the zero-degrees of the
zodiac sign Cancer. - The North Pole of the Earth is tilted at a 23 1/2° angle
toward 0° of Cancer (tropical zodiac).