Posts Tagged ‘seasons’
Sky Tonight—January 2, Earth’s closest
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science Visit EarthSky at www.EarthSky.org When 2011 began on January 1, our planet Earth was very close to its perihelion – its closest point to the sun for the year. That closest point will come tomorrow. In 2011, Earth will be closest to the sun on Monday, January 3 at 19 hours Universal Time (12 p.m. Mountain Time). How do I translate Universal Time to my time? Earth is closest to the sun every year in early January, when it is winter for the ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight— July 6, 2010: Earth farthest from
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org Today, our planet Earth reaches its most distant point from the sun for this year. Astronomers call this farthest point aphelion, and, at aphelion, we are about three million miles farther from the sun than we will be six months from now. That is in contrast to our average distance from the sun of about 93 million miles. Are you looking for Earth’s exact distance from the sun today? It is at 94,508,351 miles. Last year, on July ... Full Story
Earthsky Tonight: March 15—The westward shift of
Courtesy of EarthSky A Clear Voice for Science www.EarthSky.org We got this question: “Orion seems to have moved and turned considerably in the last two weeks. Will Orion disappear before summer?” The answer is that all the stars and constellations shift westward as the seasons pass . . . and they also move westward in the course of a single night. Orion is no exception. Exactly when Orion will disappear from the evening sky – into the sunset – depends on your latitude. The farther ... Full Story
