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All of the planets go around
(orbit) the Sun in an
anti-clockwise direction
(opposite to a clock)
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It takes the Earth 365
days (one year) to orbit
the Sun. Can you see
the Moon orbiting the Earth?
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So Earth orbits (revolves
around) the Sun
but also rotates (spins)
anti-clockwise on its axis.
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The axis is an imaginary
line through the Earth,
shown here in yellow.
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However, at some point in history
it is thought that Earth was in
collision with another
planet called Theia.
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This caused the Earth to
develop a tilt of around
23 degrees.. This animation
shows how big that is.
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So now the Earth rotates
on its axis with
a tilt of 23 degrees.
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As the Earth orbits the Sun
things have now changed.
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However, the angle and
direction of the tilt
is always the same
throughout the year.