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Credit & Copyright: Peter Ward
(Barden Ridge Observatory)
Explanation:
Earth's
orbit around the Sun
is not a circle, it's an ellipse.
The point along its elliptical orbit where our fair planet is
closest to the Sun is called perihelion.
This year perihelion is today, January 4, at 13:28 UTC, with
the Earth about 147 million kilometers from the Sun.
For
comparison,
at aphelion on last July 3 Earth was at its
farthest distance from the Sun, some 152 million kilometers away.
But distance from the Sun doesn't determine Earth's seasons.
It's only by coincidence that the beginning of southern summer
(northern winter) on the
December
solstice - when this
H-alpha picture of the
active Sun was
taken - is within 14 days of Earth's perihelion date.
And it's only by coincidence that Earth's perihelion date is within 11
days of the historic perihelion of NASA's
Parker Solar Probe.
Launched in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe
flew within 6.2 million kilometers of the Sun's surface on 2024 December 24,
breaking its own
record for closest perihelion for a
spacecraft from planet Earth.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: perihelion
Publications with words: perihelion
See also: