Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 07/04/2008 7:52:08 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Today the Earth is at aphelion, its farthest distance from the Sun during the whole year, and this year the Earth will be at its second farthest aphelion of the century. Not that it will feel much different though.
The reason for aphelion is the slightly oval-shaped orbit of the Earth around the Sun, with the Sun slightly off-centre. So at this aphelion the Earth lies about 152 million km (94.5 million miles) away from the Sun, roughly 2.4 million km (1.5 million miles) more than average.
That means that the Sun will appear 1.7 per cent smaller in the sky and 7 per cent less bright at aphelion than at perihelion, its closest distance to the Sun, which happened in early January. This makes our summers slightly cooler in the northern hemisphere, but the difference is hardly noticeable.
Another strange effect at aphelion is that the Earth travels most slowly in its yearly orbit – an illustration of this can be seen at www.analemma.com. This slowing down stretches out the summer in the northern hemisphere by almost five days.
The elliptical orbit, as well as the tilt of the Earth, can also add up to 15 minutes’ difference between sundial and clock time. This is called the equation of time.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
It’s Bush’s fault.
:-)
Global warming is caused by one thing. It’s the Sun!
If only we didn’t burn fossil fuel, none of this would happen. Oh, the huge manatee!
Do I really want to click on a site called anal emma dot com?
I don't know. Yesterday it was 108. Today 110. The daylight did get shorter, though.
yitbos
I knew it!! I always thought the sun looked a lot smaller in the Summer. Now I’m vindicated.
LOL! If we had not burned fossil fuels in the past there wouldn’t be a present. ;-)
Interesting how the sun has no effect on our climate according the AGW zealots, isn’t it?
Seriously, it really is evidence of a beneficent Creator’s wisdom that the earth is situated thus. The Northern Hemisphere has more land mass in the temperate zone than the Southern, and so is spared the excessive heat by being further from the sun in Summer. The Southern Hemisphere is largely water; an effective buffer to the more intense heat of a closer sun during its Summer. I also have read that the 23.5 degree global tilt is optimal for the moderation of weather and temperatures worldwide. Who else could have put this all together?
Actually, if the earth is farther than usual from the sun, all other things being equal, as orbital eccentricities bring it nearer, we should see a rise in average temperatures.
Good point!
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or Therapist Finder dot com
or Mole Station Nursery
or Who Represents dot com
or ...
The anthropic principle.
You know, the previous 64,334,827,233,623,019,822 iterations of the universe didn't have these conditions. Ain't it funny how there's no report from all those times when there was no habitable conditions?
Don't try this at home, Kids ..... :)
Even Mr. Wizard drew the line at looking directly at the Sun to measure it
hey- they talk that way aat D.U.hmmie sites, not appropriate here (chidren present)
Adapted from Norton’s Sky Atlas:
The length of the years are:
Sidereal Year = 365.25636 days
Tropical Year = 365.24219 days
Anomalistic Year = 365.25964 days
The Sidereal Year is the orbital period of the earth wrt the distant stars.
The Tropical Year is the orbital period of the earth wrt the equinoxes or the solstices.
The Anomalistic Year is the orbital period of the earth wrt earth’s perihelion.
The Tropical Year is the common solar year that measures the seasons.
From the above data, how many Tropical Years will it take for perihelion to occur six months later than it does at any given time?
Answer:
1/2 ( 1 / ( 1/365.24219 - 1/365.25964 ) )/365.24219
or 10466 Tropical Years
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