Visualization
ES1704  Observe seasonal changes in the amount of sunlight reaching locations on Earth.

This animation shows a satellite view of Earth every day for a year. Examine the sunlit side of the globe to recognize the continent of Australia and peninsulas and islands of Southeast Asia.

  !   Click the image to see the animation. Use the slider bar and step buttons to explore the changes and stop on specific frames of the movie.
Naval Research Laboratory-Monterey

The geostationary satellite that took these images remains directly over the same location in the western Pacific Ocean at all times. Each day, from January through December, just as the point below the satellite turned from day to night, an image was captured. Only the daily weather and the angle at which sunlight hits Earth change from frame to frame in the animation.

Watch the animation several times to observe the seasonal changes in sunlight in both hemispheres. Move through the animation and identify frames of the movie that represent solstices and equinoxes.