Today we’ll be passing the tropic of Capricorn. I thought it was going to be yesterday, but when we woke up this morning we were at about 22°S. The Tropic of Capricorn is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point at the December solstice. I thought it was 22.5°S, but actually it currently lies at 23°26′11.6″ (or 23.43657°) south of the Equator, and is very gradually moving northward by a few metres each year.
When this line of latitude was named the Sun was in the constellation Capricornus at the December solstice, although now the Sun currently appears in Sagittarius at the solstice.
This morning we also held our weekly muster drill at 10:30, along with our weekly briefing from first the hotel manager (explaining what event or changes to the meals are coming up) and from the BAS station leader (telling us what briefings would be held in the next few days). In two days the ship’s crew will be putting up the Christmas decorations and we’re all invited to help.
We’re passing through a big Brazilian oil area, and there have been a few tankers and rigs on the horizon. Not close enough to photograph, but just an interesting fact.