Let's say we want to build a model of the sun and Earth alone. Earth has a radius of about 6,371 kilometers (3,959 miles), but let's represent this with a marble 1 centimeter in diameter.

Earth and Mars have a similar spin precession frequency, which matches the orbital oscillation–the ingredients for a spin-orbit resonance. But Earth has a massive Moon, which pulls on Earth’s ...

Spring, summer, fall and winter – the seasons on Earth change every few months, around the same time every year. It’s easy to take this cycle for granted here on Earth, but not every planet ...

At the aphelion, the distance from the Earth’s center to the Sun’s center is going to be 152,087,738 kilometers (94,502,939 ...

We see some of our hottest temps when Earth is furthest from the Sun (aphelion) and coolest at the closest to the Sun ...

During different points of Earth's orbit, different parts of the planet are tilted toward or away from the Sun (because of that 23.5 degree tilt), leading to variations in how much sunlight they get.

Earth's tilt relative to the sun causes the seasons Earth is currently tilted 23.4 degrees relative to the plane where most objects in the solar system orbit the sun .

Can you tell us about how Earth’s axis and tilt shape its seasons? Earth rotates on its axis — this has an angle which determines the plane of our planet’s orbit around the sun.

A diagram of Earth's elliptical orbit around the sun. (Image credit: NOAA) ... Earth's seasons are dictated by the tilt of Earth's axis toward the planet's orbital plane.

Because of these wobbles, Earth's obliquity isn't perfectly fixed. These small variations in tilt can have big effects on the Earth's climate when combined with small changes to Earth’s orbit shape.

Earth’s seasons result from a variety of factors, including orbit and axial tilt. When a planet has an obliquity of more than 54 degrees, that planet's equator grows icy and the pole becomes warm .