If planetary motion travels in an elipse how can the Earth be the same distance from the sun at all times giving us the measurement of 149.59 million kilometers?
2006-12-10 15:14:56 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
No. The Earth is at aphelion, its greatest distance from the Sun, on July 3rd. It will be slightly over 3 million miles farther from the Sun than it is on its closest approach on Jan. 4 this year.
It may surprise some that it is much colder when we are closer to the Sun but such a small difference, given the fact that Earth's average distance from the Sun is nearly 93 million miles, plays no significant role in the amount of solar energy that reaches us. What determines the seasons is not distance but tilt.
The Earth's axis of spin, which points towards Polaris the pole star, lies 23.5 degrees from the vertical. North America is tilted favorably towards the Sun in the summer and away from it in the winter.
Thus we receive more of the Sun's rays in the summer months, and the fact we are a bit further away does not matter
2006-12-10 15:17:30 · answer #1 · answered by sonkysst 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The mean distance is 149,597,870.7 km.
An ellipse around the sun has a perihelion (closest to the sun) and an aphelion (furthest). To complicate matters just a bit more, the Earth's orbit is not exactly the same from year to year (gravitational effect of other planets).
In 2007, perihelion is around 20h UT (3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) on Jan. 3 (147,093,602 km).
In 2007, aphelion is around midnight UT on July 7 ( 8 p.m. on July 6, Eastern Daylight-Saving Time) at 152,097,053 km.
2006-12-10 15:26:21 · answer #2 · answered by Raymond 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It isn't always the same. The earth has a cycle of about 100,000 years from when it has an almost round orbit around the sun to when its most eliptical and back again.
I believe that 149.59 million km is the average distance the earth is in its current rotation.
2006-12-10 15:19:18 · answer #3 · answered by Omar B 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I thought the sun rotated around the earth? Aren't we the center of the universe?
lol.. sorry i couldn't help myself
But no as said above we vary in distance and the tilt is what changes the season.
2006-12-10 15:27:09 · answer #4 · answered by Keny 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, the earth is actually closer to the sun in the winter. I do not know why or how much closer.
2006-12-10 15:21:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, at any given time, but since the earth revolves, the sun is closer to a side of the world and not the other. {seasons}
2006-12-10 15:18:07 · answer #6 · answered by St♥rmy Skye 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It isn't the same distance. I'm guessing 149.59 is an average.
2006-12-10 15:16:50 · answer #7 · answered by slogan909 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
nope it isn't that same distance always.
2006-12-10 15:23:09 · answer #8 · answered by answers4questions 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋