
Sunset over Earth oceans as seen from the International Space Station.
When Earth is Closest and Farthest from the Sun in 2023
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Aphelion is afar, the Earth is further away from the sun.
Perehelion is Pretty Close, the Earth is closer to the Sun .
Great way to remember it!
How I remember the difference in the two words is that I think of apogee as being similar to the word apology…. And the sun is apologizing to the earth for being so far away!
That's adorable! I'll use that to remember, too.
That’s a clever idea, Mary Beth. Thanks for sharing!
If the Earth is closest to the sun in January, why do we have winter at this time of year in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern? Would it have anything to do with the tilt of Earth, implying the southern hemisphere is closer to the sun in January than the northern?
Yes, it’s all about the tilt! During the Northern Hemisphere’s winter, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, but during summer, it’s tilted towards the Sun.
Thanks for the explanation! So if the northern hemisphere’s summer falls during aphelion, while the Southern summer falls during perihelion, does that mean northern summers and winters are more temperate than those of the Southern hemisphere?
The article states that aphelion and perihelion occur about two weeks after the solstices, yet the image shows the solstices occurring after aphelion and perihelion, not like the article states.
I'm confused. It can't just be a coincidence that Aphelion ~ the Earth's *furthest distance* from the Sun, is so close to the Summer Solstice ~ when the Earth has its *maximum tilt* towards the Sun. And yet, if there *were* a connection between the two phenomena (maybe having to do with the gravitational pull between the two bodies?), then I'd think they'd have their "zeniths" on the same day: the furthest distance and maximum tilt would be marked by the same day, namely, the longest day of the year.
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