Seasonal Motion

The orbital motion of the Earth around the Sun has an effect on both the daytime and nighttime sky.

Nighttime sky

The images here show the nighttime sky at about midnight as seen with the CONCAM camera at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. The revolution of the Earth in its annual orbit around the sun results if different parts of the celestial sphere being seen overhead as the year progresses. For North America, the position of the dippers can be used as a crude calander.
December
March

June
September

 

Daytime sky

Since there are no markers in the daytime sky, the effect of our annual motion is different. Because the Earth's axis is tilted 23.5 degrees, during one half of the year the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun (summer) and during the other half of the year it is tilted away from the sun. The result is that the sun arcs higher in the sky during summer and the arc is lower during winter.

6:32
Equinox
18:41

6:29
Summer Solstice (June 21)
20:32
Sunrise
Sunset

7:20
Winter Solstice (December 21)
17:34