In
the wintertime for me and billions of other Northern-Hemisphere
types, the Earth was at its closest to the Sun (even though it was
pretty much the coldest part of the year, for us). Now that the
Northern Hemisphere is broiling under a summer Sun, we find out that
Earth is at its farthest point from the Sun.
The
farthest point of an elliptical (oval-shaped) orbit is called
aphelion. And the Earth reached this point today at 3:33 UTC.
(UTC means “Universal Time Coordinated.” It represents the time
in Greenwich, England, which is seven hours later than my time in
California, with Daylight Savings Time.)
Since
the Earth's orbit is almost a circle, the difference between its
aphelion (furthest point) and its perihelion (closest point) is very
small (compared to the size of the orbit, that is!). There is only 3%
difference between Earth's aphelion and perihelion. Earth's seasons
and climate have nothing to do with this small difference in distance
to the Sun. Instead, they are related to the tilt of the Earth on its
axis and the resulting change in angle of the Sun's warming
radiation.
Some
solar system denizens have much more elliptical orbits. Pluto's orbit
around the Sun is much less circular than Earth's, for example, and
Halley's comet “circles” the sun in a really long, skinny oval.
Find
out more about elliptical orbits at Windows to the Universe. Be sure
to click the various links—for example, don't miss the interactive animation!
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Excellent post. Thank you for sharing.
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