Latitude and longitude coordinates are seen everywhere; they’re immensely useful for marking geographic location and helping with navigation. The system is simple enough: latitude is distance north or south from the equator and longitude is distance east or west from the Prime Meridian. But what are the Tropics of Cancer and of Capricorn that are referenced on the map? What is the significance of these specific latitudes?
The region between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn encompasses all locations on Earth where the Sun reaches the zenith at local noon, which happens twice a year. The Tropic of Cancer is the northernmost latitude where this occurs, and the Tropic of Capricorn is the farthest south. The sun reaches the zenith at the Tropic of Cancer at the June solstice, marking summer for the northern hemisphere. Likewise, the sun reaches the zenith at the Tropic of Capricorn at the December solstice, marking summer for the southern hemisphere.
But why the references to the constellations of Cancer and Capricorn? Thousands of years ago, when the Tropic of Cancer was named, the June solstice occurred when the Sun was located in Cancer. However, due to the precession of the Earth’s rotational axis, the solstice no longer occurs when the Sun is in Cancer. The likewise is true with the December solstice and Capricorn. Although the timing of the solstices in relation to the stars has changes, it is still much easier to keep the same names rather than constantly renaming these special latitudes.
Avery's Solar System Adventure 
I appreciated your post because I did not cover this in depth enough in class. Good work on getting the details out and helping us further understand the Earth’s orbit and seasons!
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TA Response:
Very informative, I honestly have not thought about and did not know the orgins for the names Tropic of Cancer/Capricorn, but regardless of name they are very important latitudes, as they a have the same angle as the Earth’s orbital tilt, which is why we have seasons.
Funnily enough because the Earth has a precession period of ~26,000 years if we just wait long enough the names will regain there original meaning.
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I like that thought; everything really is just one big cycle. And even though Polaris won’t always be our north star, one day it again will be.
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