Southern Hemisphere

As a southern hemisphere - or southern hemisphere, southern hemisphere or southern hemisphere - the part of the earth is called, which is located south of the equator. The latitude has the sign of S. The southern hemisphere is the counterpart to the northern hemisphere.

The astronomical summer lasts in the southern hemisphere of 21-22. December to 20-21. March and winter from June 21 to 22-23. September. South of the Tropic of Capricorn, the highest sun position always remains in the north, below the zenith. The geometry of the phases of the moon is reversed compared to the northern hemisphere in the observation order. The astronomical equivalent of the southern hemisphere is on the celestial sphere of the southern sky.

The southern hemisphere has more water than land surface and thus a greater dominance of the water surface than the Northern Hemisphere, as it is in much of the water hemisphere. The land area is about 19 %, the water area is about 81%. The main parts of the country are the continents Antarctica and Australia - the smallest continent in the world - the majority of South America, the smaller part of Africa, and almost the whole Malay Archipelago. The world's oceans are the Southern Ocean, about half of the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean and the bulk of the Indian Ocean.

Due to the Coriolis force rotate in the southern hemisphere low pressure areas and also, for example, hurricanes, according to the baric wind law the clockwise direction.

The center of the southern hemisphere and the south polar region is the geographic South Pole - the southern intersection of the Earth's axis with the Earth's surface. The Antarctic magnetic pole is currently just outside the Antarctic Circle in the sea. The aurora of the southern hemisphere is called Aurora Australis, Aurora Australis in German.