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Ephemeris: 07/04/2024 – The Earth at aphelion

July 4, 2024 Comments off

This is Ephemeris for Independence Day, Thursday, July 4th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 27 minutes, setting at 9:31, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:03. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 5:10 tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow morning at 1:59 AM , actually overnight tonight, the Earth will reach aphelion from the Sun, the farthest it gets from it during the year. Earth will be 94 and a half million miles away from the Sun, a bit farther than our normal 93 million. In a planet’s orbit of the Sun, the Earth is no exception, it moves slowest when farthest from the Sun than when it’s nearest. It doesn’t make much difference in the amount of heat we get from the Sun being only 1 1/2% farther than average. But it makes summer the longest season at 94 days, versus winter’s 89 days. OK, I know it doesn’t feel like it here in Northern Michigan, but count the days between each solstice and the next equinox.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). They may be different for your location.

Addendum

A highly exaggerated look at the orbit of the Earth showing perihelion and aphelion, also the equinoxes and solstices and the relation thereof. Periapsis and apoapsis are general terms, for any orbit. For a satellite orbiting the Earth the terms would be perigee and apogee. Source unknown.
This is a diagram of the true shape of the Earth’s orbit and position of the Sun showing aphelion and perihelion for the year 2024. The dates do vary by up to couple of days each year as do the distances a little bit. The date difference is a bit more than the date change of the solstices and equinoxes year to year. Created using my LookingUp app, LibreOffice Draw for captions, and GIMP.

Categories: Astronomical Event, Earth, Ephemeris Program, Sun Tags: