Earth at Aphelion today...

[daz]

You all know that the Earth's orbit is eliptical, not spherical, around our Sun?

Good, well today sees us at the farthest point on this orbit, so the Sun is actually a bit smaller and a bit further away.

And for those of you that don't know, this point is called Aphelion.

More info here

[lunator]

Yep Daz when I got up this morn and saw the Sun I noticed that it was only 31.46"

[GordonCopestake]

Yeah i spotted that too when i was walking the dog this morning.................. NOT

How do you guys notice such things!?

[The Warthog]

Actually, I knew that Earth was farthest from the Sun in Northern Hemisphere summer, but I didn't realize the date was so close to Midsummer. How much farther from the Sun are we now than in Midwinter?

[Astroman]

The difference is only about 5 million kilometers, give or take.

[daz]

Hardly worth worrying about, that distance!!

[The Warthog]

Apparetnly, though, it is the reason that Antarctic winters are colder than Arctic ones...

[Andrew]

It also contributes to the timing of glacials via its control on climatic seasonality