is the sun closer to the earth during the winter months?

Answer 1

The Sun is closer to the Earth during the winter. The reason that it is so cold during the winter is that the Earth is tilted sideways, so the northern hemisphere (part) is tilted away from the Sun in the winter while the southern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun. During the summer, the northern hemisphere is tilted at the Sun and the southern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, that is why it is so warm during the summer (in the north), but cold in the southern hemisphere.

Just because the Earth is closer to the Sun during the north's winter, it isn't closer by much, so it will not get warmer on Earth.

Answer 2

It depends on which winter solstice you are referring to (which hemisphere you are in). The winter solstice in the northern hemisphere was December 22 this year. In the southern hemisphere the winter solstice will be June 21. It is better to refer to the June or December solstice. Here are the Earth-Sun Distances for the Solstices and Equinoxes: Distance from the Sun: Dec 2006 Solstice: 91.5 Million miles Mar 2007 Equinox: 92.6 Million miles Jun 2007 Solstice: 94.4 Million miles Sep 2007 Equinox: 93.3 Million miles From this you can see that during northern hemisphere winter solstice in December we are indeed closest to the Sun, and during southern hemisphere winter solstice in June we are farthest. Of course, the distance to the Sun isn't what causes the seasons - the tilt of the Earth does. So the answer is closer for the December winter solstice, and farther for the June winter solstice. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Ok. Let's get some terminology down first. If a body (like the Earth) is orbiting around the Sun, we say it is closest to the Sun at perihelion and farthest from the Sun at aphelion. If a body (like the Moon) is orbiting around the Earth, its closest point to the Earth is perigee and its farthest point from the Earth is apogee. In 2000, perihelion for the Earth was on January 3, 2000, and aphelion was on July 4, 2000. The Earth was 91,405,436 miles from Sun at perihelion and 94,511,989 miles from Sun at aphelion. For the year 2001, perihelion was on January 3, 2001 and aphelion was on July 4, 2001. The actual date for perihelion and aphelion will differ from year to year. But, you can see that the Earth is closest to the Sun in January and farthest from the Sun in July!
In fact its Minimum Distance from Sun: 146 million km (91 million miles) and its Maximum Distance from Sun: 152 million km (94.5 million miles).

The reason it is warmer in the summer months has to do with the tilt of the Earth toward the Sun. During summer the rays of the sun strike the earth more directly from above and are concentrated on a smaller area than they are during the winter months.

Answer 4

Yes, if you live in the Northern hemisphere where your winter occurs between November and March. Earth is closest to the Sun in January, farthest away in July. Below is one of many zillions of links to perihelion (the closest approach of a planet to the sun during its orbit) and aphelion (the farthest a planet is from the sun during its orbit).

* Edit: At perihelion Earth is 91 million miles from the sun, about 4 million miles closer than at aphelion, which works out to about 3 percent. The orbit, for all intents and purposes, is dam near circular. Not all planets have such an accurate orbit. Some are way off.

Answer 5

The very first answer is correct. You have to be careful to remember that not everyone on earth experiences winter at the same time.

I think the earth is closest to the sun in January, and the shift in distance is a few million miles. (Does that link above give teh exact figures?)

Answer 6

winter is opposite in the southern hemisphere as compared to the northern hemisphere. 'Winters' are 6 months out of phase with each other with respect to where on the earth you are.

If you are referring to the change in distance as being the reason it is cold in the winter, that is not the reason. It is cold in the winter more because of the decreased angle of the sun during the day (aka, the angle the sunlight hits the earth at that time.) during winter. this is true for either hemisphere.

Looking at the distance, it is true that the hemisphere that is experiencing winter is a slight distance greater away from the sun than its corresponding hemisphere that is experiencing summer, but since your question only refers to the earth, and not hemispheres of the earth (and their respective winters,) I'm assuming you your trying to relate winter to cold due to distance, and that is not the case.

Answer 7

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The earth's orbit is elliptical not a perfect circle. The closest point of approach of the earth to the sun, each year (the perihelion) is on January 4th (this can vary by a day or two from year to year) about a fortnight after the winter solstice (of the northern hemisphere). And the farthest from the sun that the earth gets each year (the aphelion) is six months later on July 4th, about a fortnight after the Summer solstice (of the northern hemisphere). This too can vary by a day or two from year to year. It does not affect the seasons but there is about 5 million kilometres difference in the Sun-to-earth distance between the two extremes of perihelion and aphelion. The actual distances involved are Aphelion 152,097,701 km (1.0167 AU) Perihelion 147,098,074 km (0.9833 AU) About a 3% variation. Light takes about 18 seconds longer to reach the earth when it is at aphelion than when it is at perihelion. Light takes 3 seconds longer to get here in February than it does in January, 3 seconds longer to get here in March than it does in February etc. About a tenth of a second extra per day for every day after perihelion, All planets and indeed all bodies in elliptical orbits have a near-point and a far-point in their orbits, This is not unique to the earth orbiting the Sun. As regards the moon orbiting the earth the far point is called the apogee and the nearpoint is called the perigee. Perigee 363,104 km (0.0024 AU) Apogee 405,696 km (0.0027 AU) More like a 10% variation in other words, This is why the moon sometimes look bigger than at other times. It isn't really bigger, just nearer to us. The biggest variation between aphelion and perihelion is perhaps shown by the Trans Neptunian Object 90377 Sedna. This takes 12,050 years to go round the Sun once and its minimum and maximum distances are: Perihelion 1.139 x 10^13 m (76.156 AU) Aphelion 14.586 x 10^13 m (975.056 AU) That takes it out as far as the Oort Cloud at aphelion and in to about twice Pluto's distance from the Sun at perihelion.

Answer 8

The Earth Motion is Counterclockwise in the Same direction of its spin relative to the Milkyway barrycenter.
Therefore at the spear head of the motion is where the Earth is closest to the Sun.The begining of the Year(January) is the leading edge of the Eliptical orbital motion of the Earth relative to the Galaxy, that point on the Elipse is called the perihelion.

Answer 9

First of all, the Earth's orbit is elliptical, which means that the orbit is not in a perfect circle.

I'm not sure what you're asking, but the Northern Hemisphere (i.e. North America, Europe, most of Asia) is tilted away from the sun on the Earth's axis of 23.5 degrees during the winter months.

Namely, you could say that the "earth" is further away from the sun during those months of the year, receiving less heat and energy.

Answer 10

Yes, the Earth has its perihelion on January 4Th.