Distance between Earth and Sun
The average distance is about 150 million kilometers (149.6) or 93 million miles (92.9). This is defined as 1 astronomical unit, or AU, and is equal to about 8.2 light-minutes, as light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to reach Earth.
Earth's orbit is actually not perfectly circular so the distance between the Earth and the Sun varies slightly over the course of the year, from a minimum of 147.1 million kilometers (91 million miles) to a maximum of 152.1 million kilometers (94.5 million miles).
More Precisely
The semi-major axis of Earth's orbit is 149,597,887.5 kilometers. When it is closest to the Sun (perihelion) it is 147,098,074 km or 0.98 AU. At farthest (aphelion) it is 152,097,701 km or 1.02 AU.
We are farthest away during summer in the Northern Hemisphere (around July 4th), and closest around January 4, which is summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
Earth's orbit is actually not perfectly circular so the distance between the Earth and the Sun varies slightly over the course of the year, from a minimum of 147.1 million kilometers (91 million miles) to a maximum of 152.1 million kilometers (94.5 million miles).
More Precisely
The semi-major axis of Earth's orbit is 149,597,887.5 kilometers. When it is closest to the Sun (perihelion) it is 147,098,074 km or 0.98 AU. At farthest (aphelion) it is 152,097,701 km or 1.02 AU.
We are farthest away during summer in the Northern Hemisphere (around July 4th), and closest around January 4, which is summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
The earth's orbit around the sun is not a circle. The earth's orbit around the sun is slightly elliptical. Therefore, the distance between the earth and the sun varies throughout the year.
At its nearest point on the ellipse that is the earth's orbit around the sun, the earth is 91,445,000 miles (147,166,462 km) from the sun. This point in the earth's orbit is known as perihelion and it occurs on January 3.
The earth is farthest away from the sun on July 4 when it is 94,555,000 miles (152,171,522 km) from the sun. This point in the earth's orbit is called aphelion.
The slight ellipse in the earth's orbit does have a slight impact on the amount of solar energy being received by the earth. This 3.3% difference in distance does not impact the earth as much as theseasonal variations, however.
Scientists utilize the average distance from the earth to the sun as the standard for one astronomical unit (1 AU). This average distance from the earth to the sun is 92,955,807 miles (149,597,870.691 km). It takes light from the sun about 8.317 minutes to reach the earth.
The earth takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds (365.242199 days) to make a full revolution around the sun.
Comments
Post a Comment