Greetings, Candlemonks!
I'm going to publish a blog post today regarding how far away the Earth is from the sun. You may wonder why I posted this on July 5th considering that we are only allowed to publish two blogs each day.
Therefore, I am publishing this on July 5th. I'm hoping this blog will be both interesting and educational.
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Ever ponder how far the Earth is from the Sun? Be aware that today is a significant day! On this day in 2022, July 4, Earth will be the furthest from the sun. It only occurs once a year when Earth is as far from the Sun as it can possible be, thus this is not an ordinary day.
The Earth is at aphelion, the point in its orbit where it is furthest from the Sun. Here is all the information you require on this phenomenon.
There are two days in the calendar when the Sun is either the furthest or the closest to Earth. The unhappy Pluto is absent from the solar system, which is made up of eight planets that move in different orbits around the Sun across distances of millions to billions of kilometres. Earth enters aphelion on July 4th, making it a momentous day.
The longest distance between the Sun and Earth is at the aphelion position. The distance between the two objects hanging in space is around 152.1 million kilometres, or nearly 1.67 percent farther from the sun than the average distance between the Earth and the sun.
Astronomical Units (AUs) are used to measure distances between the Earth and the Sun on average; one AU is equal to 149.6 million kilometres.
The two words perihelion and aphelion have been taken from ancient Greek, where peri means close, apo means far, and Helios means the Sun. Together these two positions are known as apsides - the points of the least or greatest distance of a celestial object in orbit around another astronomical body.
Earth will be 1.67% farther from the sun than the mean Earth-sun separation, also known as an astronomical unit. (One astronomical unit is equivalent to 92.96 million miles (149.6 million km)).
A UNIQUE ORBIT OF EARTH
While it was long believed that the Earth revolved around the Sun in a circular orbit, it wasn't until the 17th century that German scientist Johannes Kepler discovered the Earth's unusual elliptical orbit. The peculiar orbit places Earth either at the farthest or the closest point in its rotation around the Sun. The gravitational pull of other planetary objects, particularly the Moon, is what causes the peculiar course. According to Earth Sky, the Earth's orbital path shifts from being almost circular to elliptical around every 100,000 years. Earth undergoes aphelion and perihelion as a result of this process. The aphelion occurs two weeks after the June solstice, while the perihelion occurs around two weeks after the December solstice.
On a scorching summer day, it may be difficult to comprehend that Earth is so far from the sun, but according to Vaughan, "seasonal temperature changes occur from the fluctuating direction of Earth's axial tilt, as opposed to our distance from the sun." Whether the sun's rays hit Earth at a low angle or more directly depends on the tilt's angle.
On January 4, 2023, when it will be 91.4 million miles (147.1 million kilometres) from the sun, Earth will be at its closest point to the sun, known as perihelion.
Because the orbit of the Earth is not a complete circle, we experience aphelion and perihelion.
The eccentricity of our planet's orbit is the amount by which it deviates from a perfect circle. Venus has the most elliptical orbit of any planet in our solar system. According to Universe Today, the planet is only a few million miles (107 million km) to 68 million miles (109 million km) away from the sun.
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Have a great day!
