Reported about 1 year ago
Due to the recent hot weather, people often attribute the scorching heat to the 'big' sun above. However, the Taipei Astronomical Science Education Center stated that July 5 (Friday) is actually the day when the Earth is farthest from the sun this year, making the sun appear smallest. On that day at 1:06 PM, Earth will pass through the 'aphelion,' with a distance of about 152.1 million kilometers from the sun, 5 million kilometers farther than the perihelion on January 3. This causes the sun's apparent diameter to be about 3.3% smaller and the received solar radiation energy to be about 7% less. Despite the sun appearing smaller, various factors like the tilt of the Earth's axis and the longer daylight in the Northern Hemisphere contribute to the high temperatures. The Observatory explained that the elliptical orbit of Earth around the sun, influenced by factors like gravitational forces from other celestial bodies and precession, causes slight variations in the dates and distances of the perihelion and aphelion.
Source: YAHOO