4th of July Occurrence in the Solar System: Watch the Earth Today As It Reaches Aphelion

The Earth, on Monday, July 4, will be 152.1 million kilometers or 194.51 million miles from the sun, according to geophysicist Chris Vaughan.

This planet celebrates Independence Day on the said date by getting as far away from the Sun as possible, reaching what astronomers call "aphelion" at 3 am EDT, as specified in a Space.com report.

Essentially, Earth will be 1.67 percent farther from the sun than the mean Earth-sun separation, also identified as an astronomical unit. One astronomical unit is equivalent to 92.96 million miles or 149.6 million kilometers.

Vaughan, an amateur astronomer with SkySafari Software who oversees the Night Sky calendar or Space.com, added that it could be hard to imagine Earth very far from the sun "on a hot summer's day," although "seasonal temperature variations" occur from the varying direction of the axial tilt, contradicting the Earth's distance from the Sun.

Aphelion and Perihelion of Earth

The tilt's angle affects if the Sun's rays strike this planet at a low angle or more directly. Essentially, this planet will be nearest the sun, a moment dubbed perihelion, in early January 2023, when it will be about 147.1 million kilometers away from the sun.

The orbit of Earth is not a perfect circle, the reason aphelion and perihelion are experienced. The level at which the Earth's orbit diverges from a perfect circle is also called "eccentricity."

Of all the planets in the solar system, Venus has the most circular orbit. The planet ranges between only 107 million kilometers and 109 million kilometers from the Sun, a Universe Today report said.

A Time and Date report specified that the Earth is closest to the Sun, or at the perihelion, approximately two weeks following the December solace, when it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere.

Contrarily, the Earth is farthest away from the Sun, at the aphension point, two weeks later, the June solace, when the Northern Hemisphere is enjoying the hot summer season.

Orbiting Solar System

Since Pluto became a dwarf planet, Mercury has been one with the most eccentric orbit. An orbit's eccentricity, in particular, is the measurement of how different the orbit is from a circular shape.

According to the said Universe Today report, if an orbit is perfectly round, "its eccentricity is zero." Furthermore, as it turns more elliptical, the eccentricity increases.

The orbit of Mercury ranges from 46 million kilometers from the Sun to 70 million kilometers from the Sun. More so, venus, right next to Mercury, has the least eccentric orbit of any of the planets in the Solar System.

The planet's orbit ranges from 107 kilometers to 109 kilometers from the Sun and has an eccentricity of .007, giving it an almost perfect circle for its orbit.

Earth has a somewhat circular orbit with an eccentricity of .017. This planet has a perihelion of 147 million kilometers. The perihelion is the nearest point to the Sun in the orbit of an object.

The Earth has an aphelion of 152 million kilometers. Moreover, an aphelion is the furthest point from the Sun in the orbit of an object.

A report about the Aphelion 2022 is shown on The Secrets of the Universe's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on Space on Science Times.