The cycle of one year has 365 days. The circle of one year has 360 degrees. The Earth revolves around the Sun in an elliptical path moving closer to and away from the Sun during its orbit. This is the reason the days and degrees do not conform. To explain, there are 4 cardinal points in the circle, 90, 180, 270 and 360 degrees. As the Earth moves around the Sun the daylight hours progressively get longer and shorter every six month. The shortest day of the year in the southern hemisphere is June 21 and is know as the Winter Solstice (this is the 90 degree point). The longest day of the year is December 22, 270 degrees, the summer solstice. September 21 (180 degrees) and March 21 (360 degrees) are the days when daylight and darkness are equal, these are the Equinoxes. The four seasons of the year evolve around these 4 points. Refer to Figure - 4 and note that the 2310 high in late August came on 1.75 (1 and 3/4 years) x 360 or 630 solar degrees from the November 23 1994 Low at 1793.

It is important to realise that the Earth takes 179 days to move from 0 degrees to 180 degrees around the Sun. Yet, it takes 186 days to move from 180 degrees to 360 degrees around the Sun. The two points in the circle, of one year, where the relationships between days and degrees begin speeding up and slowing down are the perigee and the apogee. The perigee (distance to the Sun is closest) occurs about January 3 each year, the apogee (distance to the Sun is furthermost) occurs July 4 each year.

When comparing cycles it is preferable to work in degrees for greater accuracy, for this you need to use an ephemeris or a computer program, such as CycleTrader, capable of calculating degrees precisely.