

Earth closest to sun for 2015 on January 4 - ColinWright
http://earthsky.org/tonight/earth-comes-closest-to-sun-every-year-in-early-january

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a3n
> Earth is closest to the sun every year in early January

Earth is _currently_ closest to the sun every year in early January.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsis#Perihelion_and_aphelion_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apsis#Perihelion_and_aphelion_of_the_Earth)

quote:

On a very long time scale, the dates of the perihelion and of the aphelion
progress through the seasons, and they make one complete cycle in 22,000 to
26,000 years. There is a corresponding movement of the position of the stars
as seen from Earth that is called the apsidal precession. (This is closely
related to the precession of the axis.)

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Xophmeister
Stupid question, but is the Southern Hemisphere summer (i.e., now) then, on
average, hotter than it's northern counterpart?

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spdustin
Not a stupid question at all!

Find a radiant heat source (portable infrared heater) and stand one meter away
from it. How warm do you feel? Now move closer by approximately 3cm. Feel
noticeably warmer?

In fact, Southern Hemisphere summers are milder due to how much of the sun's
energy is absorbed vs. reflected by the land and water. More water and less
land in the Southern Hemisphere means that more of the heat energy from the
sun (which is, basically, a form of light) is reflected away.

