Richard was studying a computer simulation of the earth’s rotational motion. he observed that earth’s axis was inclined at an angle in relation to its plane of orbit around the sun. how would richard ideally define this inclination of the earth’s axis?

Ideally, the best way to define the inclination of the Earth's axis is by the declination of the Sun during a solstice, this is, the angular distance of the Sun from the Celestial Equator during June 21 or December 21. If the inclination of the Earth's axis in relation to its plane of orbit around the Sun was zero, then the Sun would "run" over the Celestial Equator the entire year with no changing of seasons. But since it is tilted a little bit, then the Sun apparently moves away from the celestial equator to a maximum distance of 23°26′12.6″ during the solstices, which is exactly the degree of inclination of the Earth's axis.

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