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The apsides refer to the farthest (2) and nearest (3) points reached by an orbiting planetary body (2 and 3) with respect to a primary, or host, body (1). An apsis (from Ancient Greek ἁψίς (hapsís) 'arch, vault'; pl. apsides / ˈ æ p s ɪ ˌ d iː z / AP-sih-deez) [1] [2] is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body.
The term perihelion comes from the ancient Greek "peri," which means "close," and "helios," meaning the sun. Conversely, aphelion comes from combining "apo," meaning "away from," with "helios."
The procedure for calculating the heliocentric polar coordinates (r,θ) of a planet as a function of the time t since perihelion, is the following five steps: Compute the mean motion n = (2π rad)/P, where P is the period. Compute the mean anomaly M = nt, where t is the time since perihelion.
In modern times, Earth's perihelion occurs around January 3, and the aphelion around July 4. In other words, the Earth is closer to the Sun in January, and further away in July, which might seem counter-intuitive to those residing in the northern hemisphere, where it is colder when the Earth is closest to the sun and warmer when it is furthest ...
The ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus noted the apsidal precession of the Moon's orbit (as the revolution of the Moon's apogee with a period of approximately 8.85 years); [4] it is corrected for in the Antikythera Mechanism (circa 80 BCE) (with the supposed value of 8.88 years per full cycle, correct to within 0.34% of current measurements). [5]
The Earth spends less time near perihelion and more time near aphelion. This means that the lengths of the seasons vary. [ 14 ] Perihelion currently occurs around 3 January, so the Earth's greater velocity shortens winter and autumn in the northern hemisphere, and summer and spring in the southern hemisphere.
Historically, the astronomical unit was conceived as the average Earth-Sun distance (the average of Earth's aphelion and perihelion), before its modern redefinition in 2012. The astronomical unit is used primarily for measuring distances within the Solar System or around other stars.
[note 1] Earth moves more rapidly around the Sun near perihelion, in early January, than near aphelion, in early July. This makes processes like the variation of the solar declination happen faster in January than in July. On the graph, this makes the minima more acute than the maxima.