Although you may not notice it, this Saturday, January 4, at half past two in the afternoon (specifically at 2:28 p.m. Spanish time), you will be traveling at the devilish speed of 110,700 kilometers per hour. Don’t worry too much, you’ve actually experienced it before. Because it is a phenomenon that occurs every year when the Earth is placed at the shortest distance from the Sun in its orbit, which does not have our star precisely in its center. At this moment, which is known as perihelion, the distance between both bodies is just over 147 million kilometers (specifically 147,093,051 kilometers), which due to the gravitational pull, will increase our average speed by about 3,420 kilometers per hour. , already quite impressive.
The Earth rotates around the Sun, describing an elliptical orbit of 930 million kilometers, at an average speed of 107,280 kilometers per hour, which means traveling the distance in 365 days and almost 6 hours (that ‘peak’ is the reason why every four years a leap year is counted, like this one we just released, 2024). But, the Sun, as we said, is not exactly in the center, which means that, according to Kepler’s second law – who realized that the planets move faster the closer they are to their star – that Translation speed varies, increasing until it is maximum at perihelion.
Diagram of the movement of the Earth around the Sun
In aphelion, exactly the opposite happens: when we are at a greater distance from the Sun, traveling our orbit at 103,536 kilometers per hour, more than 7,000 kilometers per hour difference. This year, this phenomenon will take place on July 3, 2025, reports the National Astronomical Observatory (OAN). At this time, we will reach 152.09 million kilometers of separation, reducing speed to 103,536 kilometers per hour.
Why is it winter if we are closer to the Sun?
Many might wonder why at the moment of closest approach to the Sun we have the lowest temperatures of the year here. The answer is given by the tilt of the Earth’s axis of rotation, which determines the seasons and temperatures. Therefore, we must not forget that although in the northern hemisphere it is winter, in the south it is summer.
Since the Earth’s axis is directed in the same place throughout the year, the Earth is illuminated differently in each hemisphere depending on the same time of year: in one place in the orbit the north pole is tilted towards the Sun ( and in the northern hemisphere the light from the Sun falls more perpendicularly, in addition to the nights lasting less) and 6 months later it is pointing the other way.
Being a little closer to the Sun, we receive a little more light and also heat. Specifically, the Earth receives 6.8% more insolation at perihelion than at aphelion. So winters in the northern hemisphere are a little less cold than they would be if the Earth’s orbit were circular and we were always at the same distance from the Sun. Something equivalent happens in summer: in the northern hemisphere they are not as hot as they should if the orbit were circular. In the southern hemisphere the opposite occurs.
There is another method to verify that we are indeed closer to the Sun: our star looks a little bigger. However, this variation is almost imperceptible to the eye (in addition to looking directly at our star could cause serious eye damage), so this verification should be left in the hands of scientific instruments.
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