The Seasonal Effects are the Result of the Earth's Axis Flipping Back and Forth

The Earth's axis does slowly wobble like a top, completing one cycle in approximately 26,000 years. This motion is called precession, and it is responsible for a gradual change in the location of the position in the sky where the Earth's axis points. During the present epoch the Earth's axis looks toward Polaris, the North Star, in the constellation of Ursa Minor. It is around this star that the sky appears to wheel once each day as the Earth rotates on its axis. Five thousand years ago, when the Great Pyramid at Giza was constructed, the Earth's axis pointed towards Thuban in the constellation of Draco, the Dragon. Ironically, if the Earth's axis did flip back and forth during the interval of six months, it could be demonstrated that every position on Earth would experience the same seasonal effects throughout the entire year.

The Seasons are the Result of the Changing Distance of the Earth from the Sun

Most people believe this to be true. The seasons are caused, in reality, by the 23.5° tilt of the Earth's axis. The axis always points in the same direction. During the course of a year, this one phenomenon changes the duration of time in which the sun is visible in the sky, the rising and setting positions of the sun along the horizon, and the noontime altitude of the sun. The Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical (oval) in shape. During a year's time the Earth's distance from the sun varies between 91.5 to 94.5 million miles. We are actually closest to the sun around January 4th of each year and farthest from the sun around Independence Day, exactly the opposite of what one might expect.

The Earth Rotates (Spins) in a Period of One Day

The Earth rotates on the average in a period of 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds. This is defined as the sidereal day, and it is about four minutes shorter than the solar day which is what is used to regulate our clocks. During this interval, the Earth's revolution carries us about one degree to the west in our orbit. This causes the sun to be shifted by one degree to the east. Since we regulate our daily activities by the sun, we want the sun to return to its same noontime position after a set interval of time has elapsed. It takes an extra four minutes of Earth rotation added to the sidereal day to accomplish this condition. This creates the solar day which contains 24 hours.

The Earth Revolves (Orbits) the Sun in a Period of One Year

Actually, the Earth requires a period of 365.24 days (approximately 365-1/4 days) to complete one revolution. Our calendars normally have 365 days in a year. We give the Earth 365 days to complete a task which actually requires 365.24 days. The result of this action over a period of four years is to place the Earth about one day behind schedule with respect to its orbital position around the sun. We must, therefore, add an extra day to the calendar every four years to bring our planet back into synchronization with its position around the sun. If this did not occur, calendric dates would slide forward with respect to the seasons. In other words, the date of the first day of spring would occur one day later every four years. Over a duration of 1460 years the calendric dates would have cycled through all of the seasons.

A Leap Year Occurs Every Four Years

This is almost true. The exception occurs with century years which are not divisible by 400. The year 2000 will be a leap year, but the century years of 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, because they did not produce a whole number when divided by 400. This is the main difference between the older Julian calendar (45 BC) and our modern Gregorian calendar used for civil purposes. The reason for the change arose because the Julian calendar overcorrected for the leap year by approximately 11 minutes, 14 seconds per year. From the adoption of the Julian calendar on January 1, 45 BC to the onset of the Gregorian system in 1582, the first day of spring had slipped backwards by 14 days, from March 25 to March 11, causing the observance of Easter to fall on earlier and earlier dates. If this were not corrected, eventually Easter and Christmas would be celebrated at the same time of the year. The Gregorian calendar was adopted by the Catholic nations of Europe in 1582 during the papacy of Gregory. During that year 11 days were dropped from the calendar so that the vernal equinox would occur on March 21. The day following October 4, 1582 became October 15. The calendar was now corrected to about 1 day in 3300 years.

The Aurora is Caused by Reflected Sunlight from the Ice Caps of the Polar Regions

The Aurora is really an electrical discharge which occurs high in the Earth's atmosphere. Trapped protons and electrons from the Van Allen radiation belts, situated thousands of miles above the Earth's surface, follow lines of magnetic force down into the Earth's atmosphere where they strike gas molecules causing them to glow. The Earth's magnetic field creates two oval-shaped areas where the charged particle intensity is highest, and the auroras are most frequently observed. Auroral activity takes place at altitudes between 350 miles to 60 miles above the surface of the Earth. In the locations of greatest frequency auroras can occur on about 250 nights during a year.

A Compass Needle Always Points Towards the North

Since the north magnetic pole is located approximately 700 miles south of the Earth's true geographic north pole, a compass needle will tend to point in the general direction of north. At positions where true geographic north lies directly north of the north magnetic pole, a compass needle will point directly north. In any other location there will always be some deflection of the needle either to the east or west of the true north position.

The Earth was Considered to be Flat During the Time When Columbus Discovered the New World

This misconception is generally true for the uneducated masses, but not so for anyone who had received a formal education and who could read. Columbus could read, and he was familiar with Greek texts which spoke of a spherical Earth as well as the circumference of the Earth. It was the Earth's circumference that was in disagreement among European scholars of Columbus's time. Columbus thought that the Earth was about 18,000 miles in circumference, and that the East Indies were only about 3000 miles away. Despite this misconception, Columbus was a keen observer who had sailed widely and who had witnessed the changes in the sky which were consistent with a spherical Earth. Convincing a superstitious crew that the Earth was round and not inhabited by monsters was more difficult.