Question

There is a continuous daylight at the South Pole during the ________________.
A. Autumn equinox
B. Spring equinox
C. Summer solstice
D. Winter solstice

Answer 1

Hint: The point in reference to which the location of another place is given is called Reference point. The earth has two points, that is, the North Pole and South Pole.

Complete Answer: An equinox is usually viewed as the moment of time when the plane of Earth's equator goes through the mathematical focal point of the Sun's circle. Whereas, an astronomical event caused by the Earth’s tilt on the axis and its movement in orbit around the sun is referred to as solstice. Some prefer ‘sunturn’, a more Teutonic term to describe this astronomical event.

Now let us examine the options
Option A - Autumn Equinox is the day of the year, when the day is equal to night. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Autumn Equinox occurs on the 22 or 23 September and in the Southern Hemisphere it occurs on 20 or 21 March..
Option B - Spring Equinox is generally known as vernal equinox. It occurs in late March and marks the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere and this marks the beginning of fall in the Southern Hemisphere.
Option C - The summer solstice happens when the earth’s tilt on the axis is at maximum towards the sun. The sun on this particular day appears at its highest elevation during the noontime and stands still directly over the Tropic of Cancer, located at 23.5 degrees latitude North. The positions of both the sun and earth on 21st June of every year results in the longest day and the shortest night of the year.
Option D - The winter solstice that usually occurs in the month of December every year experiences the shortest day and the longest night of the year. This happens when the sun stands still directly over the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere and reaches its southerly declination located at -23.5 degrees. The North Pole of our earth during this time is tilted far away from the sun so it experiences continuous darkness while the South Pole experiences continuous daylight.

Thus, the correct answer is option (D).

Note: The word solstice is derived from the Latin word ‘solstitium’ whose literal meaning is ‘Sun standing still’. The position of the sun at both the tropics, the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn describes the event of summer and winter solstice.