About the Author. Lincoln Peirce began creating comics in the 6th grade (just like Big Nate!). He went on to teach art at a New York City High School. Lincoln created the cartoon-strip character Big Nate in 1991, naming the character after a nickname he gave his older brother as a kid.
Sidereal year, from one time a particular star is in a given position to the next time 365.25636 days. Anomalistic year, from the time the Earth is at its closest to the Sun to the next time 365.25964 days. What causes the seasons? The Earth in southern summer and winter. The short answer is the tilt of the Earth or put more impressively, the obliquity of the ecliptic. The axis of the Earth is tilted by 23.4 degrees to the plane in which it travels around the Sun, the ecliptic.
Earth's orbit. Earth's orbit is the trajectory along which Earth travels around the Sun. The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi), and one complete orbit takes 365.256 days (1 sidereal year), during which time Earth has traveled 940 million km (584 million mi). Earth's orbit has an eccentricity of 0.0167. As seen from Earth, the planet's orbital prograde motion makes the Sun appear to move with respect to other stars at a rate of about 1Â° (or a Sun or Moon diameter every 12 hours) eastward per solar day.