This is a question that has been bugging me for a while now, I was wondering about the effects on the Earth if it was in different orbital situations to what it is now, and one of those was what would happen, if somehow, the Earth was in a polar orbit around the Sun? Would the equator be perpendicular to where it is now? As well as time zones?
This is taking that everything else about the Earth was the same as it is now, E.G it's axis, distance from the Sun and the presence of the Moon were all the same.
Best Answer
If you leave the spin angular momentum unchanged with respect to the Sun's spin angular momentum then this has drastic effects. Whilst a "day" is still 24 hours, the periods of daytime and night time become much longer. I think the effect is equivalent to changing the inclination of Earth's spin to its orbit to 67 degrees. Thus anything above 23N or below 23S would be considered "polar" and would experience 24 hour illumination during some parts of the year. Equatorial latitudes would still experience a 24 hour diurnal cycle but the height that the Sun got above the horizon would vary with a much bigger amplitude.
One of the main changes would be in the Earth's geocoronal environment. The magnetic activity of the Sun is concentrated toward low solar latitudes - this means that during solar activity cycles, then every 11 years or so the Earth is subjected to a considerable bombardment in the form of accelerated charged particles and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). However the solar wind character would also change throughout the year. The polar regions of the Sun emit a thin, fast wind, whereas the equatorial regions are dominated by a slower, denser wind.
If the Earth was on a polar orbit, then major magnetic-related events, such as CMEs would be much less frequent - these are confined to latitudes $\pm 30$ degrees for most of the solar cycle, but can extend to $\pm 60$ degrees near solar maximum (Webb & Howard 2012). The "space weather" environment could be considerably quieter for several months of the year. This would be of considerable significance in my field (astrophysics) in terms of the kinds of satellites, detectors and observations one could make with lower interference from solar activity. It would also have significance for dosage of radiation that is received by astronauts working for lengthy periods of time in low-Earth orbit. We'd also miss out on a number of northern lights displays!