Back away from the sun

6/21/2010 6:28:22 AM

but it's still summer

6/21/2010 7:10:25 AM

Not even july yet, WTF.... The earth is slacking

6/21/2010 7:12:50 AM

you do know that the solstices have nothing to do with Earth's distance from the sun, right?

6/21/2010 7:41:37 AM

*ding*

You shoulda said, "lean away from the sun."

6/21/2010 7:51:15 AM

GANGSTA LEAN

6/21/2010 8:07:17 AM

Quote :

"you do know that the solstices have nothing to do with Earth's distance from the sun, right?"

Sure, as long as you're only talking about the "leading edge"... parts of the Earth are closer, right?

6/21/2010 8:18:03 AM

The earth's aphelion (farthest point from the sun) takes place on July 4th. Perihelion (closest) takes place on January 3rd. The difference between the two is about 5 million kilometers.

So we're actually much closer to the sun during winter than we are in summer. Those limey bastards in the southern hemisphere are closer to the sun in summer and farther away in winter.

6/21/2010 8:27:50 AM

I'm not disagreeing, but, both of you are talking about measuring from the center of the Earth.
We live somewhere on the surface, you know.

6/21/2010 8:38:12 AM

The diameter of the earth is 12700 kilometers. The distance from aphelion to perihelion is 5000000 kilometers.


But I'm not really even sure what you're trying to say.

In the middle of its summer, Alice Springs AUS is a whopping 3500 km closer to the sun than New York City (middle of winter in NYC). That's accounts for a whole 0.002% of the distance to the sun.

Yes, as the earth orbits the sun, the tilt in its axis moves some portions of the (noon-time) surface closer to the sun and some portions farther away from the sun. But the elliptical path of the orbit moves the center of the earth a much greater distance than the "surface movement."
The rate of movement for the sun-to-center system is greater than the rate of movement of the "sun-to-surface" system.

6/21/2010 9:55:52 AM