About the Author. Lincoln Peirce began creating comics in the 6th grade (just like Big Nate!). He went on to teach art at a New York City High School. Lincoln created the cartoon-strip character Big Nate in 1991, naming the character after a nickname he gave his older brother as a kid.
Sidereal year, from one time a particular star is in a given position to the next time 365.25636 days. Anomalistic year, from the time the Earth is at its closest to the Sun to the next time 365.25964 days. What causes the seasons? The Earth in southern summer and winter. The short answer is the tilt of the Earth or put more impressively, the obliquity of the ecliptic. The axis of the Earth is tilted by 23.4 degrees to the plane in which it travels around the Sun, the ecliptic.
scythian1950 has the right answer. It takes 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds for the Earth to rotate 360 degrees (one sidereal day) and approximately 24 hours to go from noon to noon (one solar day). If it takes 365 1/4 days to orbit the Sun, then the Earth has to rotate nearly 361 degrees to get back to noon. About the only thing I have to add is that 24 hours is the MEAN solar day, or the average amount of time it takes the Earth to rotate from local zenith (noon) to local zenith (noon).