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."