What Causes the Seasons on Different Planets?

Why Do We Have Seasons?

Earth has seasons because it’s tilted on its axis, like a spinning top. When one side leans toward the Sun, it gets more sunlight, that's summer! The other side gets less light, that's winter!

But other planets have different kinds of seasons because they are tilted differently and orbit the Sun at different speeds.

For example, Mars has longer and colder winters than Earth. That’s because it takes almost twice as long to go around the Sun!

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Examples

  1. Imagine Earth spinning like a top while it goes around the Sun, tilt makes seasons happen.
  2. If Mars was Earth’s twin, but took twice as long to go around the Sun, its seasons would be super long.
  3. Uranus is like a planet that's lying on its side, so when one end faces the Sun, it gets an extra-long summer.

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Categories: Space · seasons· planets· tilt