What name is given to 23.5 degrees north latitude?

What name is given to 23.5 degrees north latitude? The answer is the Tropic of Cancer.

This named line of latitude marks the northernmost point on Earth where the Sun can appear directly overhead. That happens around the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun. The line is more precisely about 23°26′ north today, so 23.5° is the standard rounded figure.

The name comes from the constellation Cancer, the Crab. When the line was named in antiquity, the Sun appeared in Cancer at the June solstice. Because of the slow precession of Earth’s axis, the Sun now appears in Taurus at that time, but the traditional name remains.

A common mix-up is the Tropic of Capricorn, which lies at roughly 23.5° south latitude. The Tropic of Cancer forms the northern boundary of the tropics; between it and the Tropic of Capricorn lies the region where the Sun can be overhead at some point during the year. Earth’s axial tilt changes slowly, so the line’s exact latitude gradually shifts.