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Earth at seasonal points in its orbit (not to scale) Earth orbit (yellow) compared to a circle (gray) Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi), or 8.317 light-minutes, [1] in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere.
This is because the distance between Earth and the Sun is not fixed (it varies between 0.983 289 8912 and 1.016 710 3335 au) and, when Earth is closer to the Sun , the Sun's gravitational field is stronger and Earth is moving faster along its orbital path. As the metre is defined in terms of the second and the speed of light is constant for all ...
Earth orbits the Sun, making Earth the third-closest planet to the Sun and part of the inner Solar System. Earth's average orbital distance is about 150 million km (93 million mi), which is the basis for the astronomical unit (AU) and is equal to roughly 8.3 light minutes or 380 times Earth's distance to the Moon .
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.
Earth reached its closest point to the sun Tuesday at 1:52 a.m. EST, a configuration known as perihelion. ... the planet is now roughly 3 million miles closer to the sun than when Earth reaches ...
1 astronomical unit (au); mean distance between Earth and Sun 10 12: 1 terameter (Tm) 1.3 Tm Optical diameter of Betelgeuse: 1.4 Tm Orbital distance of Saturn from Sun 2 Tm Estimated optical diameter of VY Canis Majoris, one of the largest-known stars: 5.9 Tm Orbital distance of Pluto from the Sun ~ 7.5 Tm Outer boundary of the Kuiper belt: 10 ...
The largest such scale model, the Sweden Solar System, uses the 110-meter (361-foot) Avicii Arena in Stockholm as its substitute Sun, and, following the scale, Jupiter is a 7.5-meter (25-foot) sphere at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, 40 km (25 mi) away, whereas the farthest current object, Sedna, is a 10 cm (4 in) sphere in Luleå, 912 km (567 mi ...
Size comparison of the Sun, all the planets of the Solar System and some larger stars. The Sun is 1.4 million kilometers (4.643 light-seconds) wide, about 109 times wider than Earth, or four times the Lunar distance, and contains 99.86% of all Solar System mass.