Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Earth to be closest to Sun tomorrow


Earth to be closest to Sun tomorrow

 Stargazers will get a celestial
treat on New Year with Sun coming nearest to our planet
tomorrow.

  The Earth will be at its nearest point from the Sun
at 10:10 AM tomorrow at a distance of 147 million km,
Planetary Society of India General Secretary N Sri Raghunandan
Kumar said today.

            Every January, the Earth is at perihelion, the closest
from the Sun for the year, and in July it is at aphelion, the
farthest to the Sun for the year, he said.
            This year the earth will be at aphelion on July 5.
            The word perihelion comes from the Greek words "peri"
(meaning "near") and "helios" (meaning "sun").
            All planets, comets and asteroids in our solar system have
elliptical orbits. Thus, they all have a closest and a
farthest point from the Sun -- a perihelion and an aphelion,
he said.
            Explaining the reason why the temperature does not rise on
Perihelion Day even when the sunlight is more, Kumar said,
"There are many reasons for it. Blame it on the tilt of the
Earth's axis. Actually, our seasons are determined by the
tilt of the Earth and not by how close the Earth is to the
Sun." 

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