Göran Strand of Sweden captured this image of the sun on July 4,2016, the day of Earth’s aphelion, when our planet was farthest from the sun for this year. He wrote:
Since Earth’s orbit around the sun is in an elliptical path, there is one point of the path when the sun is at its closest to the Earth and one point when it is furthest away. The opposite to aphelion is perihelion, then Earth is nearest to the sun. Next time the Earth is at perihelion will be on January 4, 2017.
This is a shot I took of today’s sun as seen from aphelion.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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