Why is the sun brighter during winter?

Question

If the sun shines brighter, why is it colder? Sorry if you think this is stupid,but nobody has ever told me.

Answer 1

cold air is less dense than warm,humid air full of pollen therefore, the light is less scattered as it travels through the atmoshpere it is not really brighter, just cleaner.

Answer 2

The sun IS brighter in the winter because the Earth's orbit around the sun is not a perfect circle but an elipse with the sun at one focus. The Earth is closest to the sun on ~January 5th, so the sun will be brightest on and around that day. However, this has nothing to do with the march of the seasons, which are due to the angle of the sun above the horizon. Due to the tilt of the Earth's axis compared to the orbital plane, The sun is nearly overhead at noon in late spring and summer, but it is very low in the sky even at noon in the winter. If you don't believe me just check out the length of your shadow at ~1:00PM Daylight saving time now, and then do the same at 12:00 noon in late November or December-January and you will see what I mean. The lower sun angle means colder temperatures, regardless of where the sun is in its orbit.

Answer 3

The Earth travels around the sun in an ellipse, and is closest to the sun in the Spring and Fall and furthest from the sun in the Summer and Winter. The distance of the earth from the sun is irrelevant to the season (Summer in the northern hemisphere is Winter in the southern hemisphere.)
The seasons are caused ONLY by the tilt of the planet. When the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, the sun rises higher in the sky, translating to more direct sunlight and longer days. This is Summer.
The brightness of the sun does not change. I suspect that the sun appears brighter in sub-freezing temperatures because of the cold, dry air.

Answer 4

Snow has little to do with the appearance of the sun being brighter. In winter your are more likely to see the sun at less than 30 degrees above the horizon, which incidentally is about the same as your upward peripheral vision. As such the sun is in more direct alignment with your eyes and gives the impression of being brighter. Try looking up direct at the sun in summer, it is actually equally bright.

Answer 5

I think it just appears brighter because it will reflect off of the snow- it's not actually brighter, it's farther away from the Earth in the winter (hence the cold weather). If anything, it would be brighter during the summer when it's closer.

Answer 6

The sun is closer and hotter to us during the summer. It may appear "brighter" in the winter since the humidity in the air is much lower in winter months. In the summer in most places the air is full of hazy humidity. Could this account for what you are asking?

Answer 7

Even though the Earth is closest to the sun in winter, it is tilted on it's axis away from the sun. That's also why it's summer in the Southern Hemisphere when it's winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Answer 8

it doesnt accually shine any brighter, it just seems that way because the snow reflects a lot of the sun back into your eyes

Answer 9

sun summer distance about 94.5 million miles, winter distance about 91.5 million, yearly average (given in books as distance to sun) 93 million.

colder in norther hemisphere because sun angle is lower, sun is located above southern hemisphere with higher sun angle so it is warmer there. at a lower sun angle, the available light end therefore energy is spread out over a larger area on the earth surface so there is less heating (northern hemisphere). higher sun angle the energy is concentrated in a smaller area, thus heating more (southern hemisphere).

Answer 10

In the winter time, the sun is closer to the earth, than any other time of year..