Southern Hemisphere

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(Tagged February 2006)

Image:Southern Hemisphere LamAz.png

The Southern Hemisphere is the half of a planet's surface (or celestial sphere) that is south of the equator (the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball').

On Earth it contains four continents (part of Africa, Oceania, most of South America, and Antarctica) and four oceans (South Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern). Summer occurs from December to February and winter from June to August.

The Southern Hemisphere is significantly less polluted than the Northern Hemisphere due to lower overall population densities, lower levels of industrialisation, and smaller land masses (air currents run mostly east-west, so pollution doesn't easily spread north or south). The southern temperate zone in fact is nearly all water; the only countries it contains are Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. Climates in the Southern Hemisphere tend to be slightly milder than in the Northern Hemisphere. This is because the Southern Hemisphere has significantly less land and more ocean, and water heats up and cools down more slowly than land.

In the Southern Hemisphere the sun passes from East to West in the North. This generally causes sun-cast shadows to turn anticlockwise through the day.

The South Pole is oriented towards the galactic centre, and this, combined with clearer skies makes for excellent viewing of the night sky from the Southern Hemisphere, with brighter and more numerous stars.

Image:Aurora australis panorama.jpg

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