Orbital pole

Imagine a big round ball that is the Earth. This ball is spinning around an imaginary line that goes through its center. This line is called the Earth's axis. The Earth's axis is not straight up and down. It is tilted at an angle.

Now, imagine another imaginary line that goes through the Earth's center, but it is not the axis. This line is called the orbital pole. It is the point in space around which the Earth orbits the Sun.

The Earth's axis points towards the North Star, but the orbital pole is a different point in space. It is always in the same direction relative to the stars, but it is not fixed because the Earth is also moving.

As the Earth orbits the Sun, it goes around the orbital pole. It takes one year for the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun. This means that the orbital pole also moves around in a circle once a year.

Understanding the orbital pole helps scientists to predict things like the changing seasons, the position of the Sun and Moon, and the movement of other planets in our Solar System.