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Does the Sun look smaller to you? Earth was at aphelion.

blogs.discovermagazine.com — Criminy, I almost forgot: today, July 4th, at roughly 08:00 UT, the Earth was at aphelion. Uh, what? I hear you ask. OK, brief astrolesson for ya, then back to the grill!

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  • tjcs63, on 07/04/2008, -0/+25yet again Phil does it again. Turns something which is sound small and boring in to something interesting and at least small "c" Cool. Keep up the great work Phil
    • BadAstronomer, on 07/05/2008, -1/+10Thanks! That was fun to write. The problem is always where to stop... I almost got into Milankovitch cycles, ice ages, sunspots... but at some point you gotta just stop. :-)

      But this is funny-- now that I'm blogging at discovermagazine, my URL isn't listed on Dugg articles. :( Oh well, a small price to pay.
    • thebellmaster1x, on 07/05/2008, -0/+8"yet again Phil does it again."
      Good Lord, how many times did he do it?
    • yuanzhoulu, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2easy way to remember perihelion vs. aphelion:
      perihelion --> sun is closer, therefore more perilous
  • dougvfr750, on 07/05/2008, -1/+6It did feel colder here today.
  • thebellmaster1x, on 07/05/2008, -1/+22Phil, sir, I hope I don't sound like a kiss-ass, but you're really good at what you do. I'm not too up on astronomy (though I'd really like to be), and Wikipedia has the unfortunate tendency to be written above any sort of entry-level...level. While I would, though, be able to glean the meaning of aphelion from the article on it, you have, in the past, made many other things available to those of us that aren't as well-versed in astronomy as you are.
    So, thanks.
    • BadAstronomer, on 07/05/2008, -0/+8:-) My pleasure. And seriously, thank *you*!
  • fudged71, on 07/05/2008, -0/+5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apogee#Earth.27s_peri ...
  • lucy22, on 07/05/2008, -0/+6I did not know this, and I am glad you shared it with us. Learned something new.
  • Revolution101, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3Dugg for use of "Criminy"
  • elektronjunge, on 07/05/2008, -9/+1Cool, but ...

    NERD!!
  • cambob76, on 07/05/2008, -0/+13It's a trap!!! Looking at the sun makes you blind.
    • yotsukado, on 07/05/2008, -0/+4haha, when I read this and contemplated staring at the sun, I was suspicious...
  • Lasha, on 07/05/2008, -1/+4Damn. In a few millenia, we will probably have the power to alter the earth's atmosphere with a press of a button.

    Does this have anything to do with climate change or global warming?
    • Elderon, on 07/05/2008, -2/+2why a few millennium?? we can already change the entire worlds climate. the problem is the small fact that probably nothing would be left alive.
      aphelion has nothing to do with global warming.
      • MtheoryX, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1"aphelion has nothing to do with global warming."

        I love how you can be so definitive with that statement, yet provide absolutely not a shred of evidence to back it up.
  • username7410, on 07/05/2008, -9/+1Do You Want a Chili Dog Nerd?
    • nmnnotmyname, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3Is there a possible way you could have said this any more stupid than you already did?

      Because I'm pretty sure this is the dumbest of all geek 'disses' i've ever heard. Actually, this is so bad it wouldn't even make it into a highschool - which is okay because you probably won't be going to one for a year or two.
  • stonebear, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1Thanks; I couldn’t tell because of all the forest fire smoke that wasn’t supposed to happen until September. July daylight looks like October because of it. Fortunately, it takes a month for solar highjinks get to the surface, by which time I will be vacationing so far north of the equator that it won’t affect me at all.
    • username7410, on 07/05/2008, -1/+2THANK GOD!!! We we're all worried.
      • nmnnotmyname, on 07/05/2008, -1/+2Speaking of things we don't care about...
    • MtheoryX, on 07/05/2008, -2/+1In other news, there's a digger complaining about fires, thus prompting the general digg community to wish that he would go die in one.
  • Animelee, on 07/05/2008, -0/+9A quality article on Digg is pretty rare, but great job!
  • arfandualo, on 07/05/2008, -1/+2Amazing how small unimportant facts turn out to be the most interesting ones...
  • harryterry, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1well then it's going to get really big starting next week...where i live it's supposed to be 105+
    ***** that....
    • MtheoryX, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1People complaining about their local climate are the most annoying people ever.

      If you don't like it, MOVE!!

      If you can't move, STFU!!
      • harryterry, on 07/06/2008, -1/+1yay!! someone who cares more about replying to something that isnt a big deal!!
        ***** you *****
  • turbopro, on 07/05/2008, -3/+4Damn. Don't let Al Gore know about this....
  • lysdexia, on 07/05/2008, -0/+5I was going to make some smart-ass comment about the sort of ***** checks the size of the sun out.

    But, it was deeply entertaining instead - hats off to the astro-geek!
  • Eric3k, on 07/05/2008, -2/+3There does seem to be about a three % difference in size of the spots I am now seeing. Fun facts like this make me look really smart to my kids... and ask how I know all this stuff. The two answers I give are "I know everything", which has made them laugh since they were 4. Or "I read." which is met with deafening silence. I hope stuff like this makes them want to read tho.
  • kenvsryu, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2I tell girls all the time, it looks smaller cause your on aphelion.
  • jamesrdorn, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1Hrm. I don't care what this says, I am not staring at the sun.
  • AndrewMB, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1Wow, I look at the sun everyday!!!!!
  • rmeddy, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1I don't know, we have a lot of rain here.
  • Bizdorph, on 07/05/2008, -2/+1Buried as inaccurate.

    During summer, the northern hemisphere is closest to the sun. This is why the longest day of the year is June 21, and not December 21st. Duh.
    • esoxLucius4, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2December 21st. is the longest day of the year. On southern hemisphere
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