The Hindu : New Delhi News : Good old Aphelion Day today

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Saturday, Jul 07, 2007
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New Delhi

Good old Aphelion Day today

Madhur Tankha

NEW DELHI: All those who have a special fascination for astronomy can now look forward to the good old Aphelion Day, when the Earth is at its greatest distance from the Sun. This year, Aphelion Day falls on Saturday.

Elaborating the uniqueness of this day, Science Popularisation Association of Communication and Educators (S.P.A.C.E) president Chander Bhushan Devgan said: “On July 7 at 5-30 a.m., Aphelion Day will start. On this day, the Earth is at its farthest point from the Sun.

In fact, the distance between the Earth and the Sun on that day will be 152,097,040 km. This distance is about 5 million km further away than its closest point in early January. It does appear strange that on this particular day we have the Earth farthest away from the Sun.”

Explaining the reason why the temperature does not go down on Aphelion Day even when the sunlight is less, Mr. Devgan said: “There are many reasons to it. Blame it on the tilt of the Earth’s axis. Actually, our seasons are determined by the tilt of the Earth and not by how close the Earth is to the Sun. Sunlight raises the temperature of continents more than it does oceans.”

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