It was Johannes Kepler who with his laws taught us to predict how the planets revolve around their stars. Thanks to him today we know that the speed of earth translation (the orbit of our planet around the Sol) varies depending on whether we are more or less close to the king sun. Because our planet revolves around the Sun describing an elliptical orbit of 930 million kilometers, at an average speed of 107,280 kilometers per hour, which means traveling the distance in 365 days and almost 6 hours, which is why one is counted every four years. leap year
But, precisely in accordance with Kepler’s second law, that translation speed varies, increasing up to 110,700 km/h maximum in it perihelion -its closest point to the Sun-, a situation that will occur this Wednesday, January 4 at exactly 5:00 p.m. Spanish time. Specifically, it will accelerate 3,420 kilometers per hour over the average speed while being just over 147 million kilometers from our star.
The Earth moves faster as it passes close to the Sun.
The opposite occurs during the aphelionwhen the Earth is placed at the greatest distance from the Sun (about 5 million more kilometers), a moment that will occur on July 6 and in which our planet will travel at 103,536 kilometers per hour, more than 7,000 kilometers per hour apart .
Why is it colder if we are closer to the Sun?
However, if we are closer to the Sun… Why is it so cold? Here, the answer is given by the tilt of the axis of rotation of the Earth (the rotation on itself), which determines the seasons. We must not forget that, although in the northern hemisphere we are in winter, in the south it is summer. Due to the tilt of the axis, our planet is illuminated differently in each hemisphere depending on the same time of year: in one place of the orbit the north pole is tilted towards the Sun (and in the northern hemisphere the light of the Sun falls on the sun). more perpendicular, plus the nights are shorter) and 6 months later it’s pointing the other way.
Being a little closer to the Sun, we receive a little more light and also heat. Specifically, the Earth receives 6.8% more insolation at perihelion (when we are closer) than at aphelion (when we are further away). So winters here in the Northern Hemisphere are a little less cold than they would be if the Earth’s orbit were circular and we were always the same distance from the Sun. the northern hemisphere) as they should if the orbit were circular. In the southern hemisphere, the opposite occurs: summers are hotter and winters are somewhat colder.
We could also appreciate that we are closer to the Sun by comparing the apparent size of the star: being closer, it looks a little bigger. However, it is a phenomenon almost imperceptible to the eye.
coinciding with the quadrantids
This phenomenon will coincide with the Quadrantids Meteor Shower, one of the most intense meteor showers of the year and which will reach its zenith these days. At dawn, it is expected that we can see an average of one meteor every four minutes, some of them very bright if we are in a place without light pollution and with clear horizons.
Because the radiant -point in the sky where meteors appear to be ‘born’- is located near the Great Bear -specifically in the constellation of the Boyerowhich occupies part of the disappeared The Mural Quadranthence its name- Quadrantids can hardly be seen from the southern hemisphere.