Middle latitudes Middle latitudes The middle latitudes (also called the mid-latitudes, sometimes midlatitudes, or moderate latitudes) of Earth lie between 23°26'22" and 66°33'39" north, and between 23°26'22" and 66°33'39" south. They include Earth's subtropical and temperate zones, which lie between the tropics and the polar circles (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle, and between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle). Weather fronts and extratropical cyclones are usually found in this area, as well as occasional tropical cyclones, which have traveled from their areas of formation closer to the Equator. The prevailing winds in the middle latitudes are
Earth's orbit actual orbit is less eccentric than pictured. Because of the axial tilt of the Earth in its orbit, the maximal intensity of Sun rays hits the Earth 23.4 degrees north of equator at the June Solstice (at the Tropic of Cancer), and 23.4 degrees south of equator at the December Solstice (at the Tropic of Capricorn). Mathematicians and astronomers (such as Laplace, Lagrange, Gauss, Poincaré, Kolmogorov, Vladimir Arnold, and Jürgen Moser) have searched for evidence for the stability of the planetary motions, and this quest led to many mathematical developments and several successive "proofs" of stability for the Solar System.