Did you know the Earth does not have a perfectly circular orbit around our Sun? It is elliptical, which means that the Earth’s distance from the Sun varies depending on the time of year.
The point at which we are furthest from the Sun in our orbit is called the aphelion, when our planet is a whopping 94.5 million miles away from our nearest star, which happens to be Monday at approximately 12:30 PM according to EarthSky.org.
The closest point in our orbit to the Sun is known as the perihelion, when we are over 3 million miles closer to the Sun. This occurs early in January.
Even though that’s a big difference, the distance change is nearly imperceptible to most of us. The time of year when the aphelion and perihelion happen seems counterintuitive as well if you are in the Northern Hemisphere. That is because seasons are based on the 23.5° tilt of the Earth in relation to the sun.
The Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun this time of year, which offers us longer and more direct sunlight, leading to warmth. Even though it happens at a greater distance, we are still much more impacted by the tilt.
Our atmosphere and oceans’ ability to absorb the energy or the heat from the Sun plays a role in dampening the temperature effect of changing distances in our orbit. Still, there is some effect on making summers a bit hotter in the Southern Hemisphere when both the favorable tilt of the Earth and distance can amplify warming, according to Scientific American.
The same is true with amplifying the colder air in the Southern Hemisphere winter.
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Source: KJRH
