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As seen from Earth, the planet's orbital prograde motion makes the Sun appear to move with respect to other stars at a rate of about 1° eastward per solar day (or a Sun or Moon diameter every 12 hours). [nb 1] Earth's orbital speed averages 29.78 km/s (19 mi/s; 107,208 km/h; 66,616 mph), which is fast enough to cover the planet's diameter in 7 ...
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 ...
Evolution of the solar luminosity, radius and effective temperature compared to the present-day Sun. After Ribas (2009) [3] The uncrewed SOHO spacecraft was used to measure the radius of the Sun by timing transits of Mercury across the surface during 2003 and 2006. The result was a measured radius of 696,342 ± 65 kilometres (432,687 ± 40 miles).
The average diameter of the orbit of the Earth relative to the Sun. Encompasses the Sun, Mercury and Venus. [18] Inner Solar System ~6.54 AU 9.78×10 8: Encompasses the Sun, the inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) and the asteroid belt. Cited distance is the 2:1 resonance with Jupiter, which marks the outer limit of the asteroid belt ...
2.998 × 10 5 km: 1.863 × 10 5 miles: Average distance from the Earth to the Moon is about 1.282 light-seconds light-minute 60 light-seconds = 1 light-minute 17 987 547 480 m: 1.799 × 10 7 km: 1.118 × 10 7 miles: Average distance from the Earth to the Sun is 8.317 light-minutes light-hour 60 light-minutes = 3600 light-seconds 1 079 252 848 ...
The position of the Sun in the sky is a function of both the time and the geographic location of observation on Earth's surface. As Earth orbits the Sun over the course of a year , the Sun appears to move with respect to the fixed stars on the celestial sphere , along a circular path called the ecliptic .
The average lunar distance is approximately 385,000 km (239,000 mi), or 1.28 light-seconds; this is roughly 30 times Earth's diameter. Around 389 lunar distances make up an astronomical unit (roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun). Lunar distance is commonly used to express the distance to near-Earth object encounters. [1]
At perihelion, the Earth's center is about 0.983 29 astronomical units (AU) or 147,098,070 km (91,402,500 mi) from the Sun's center. In contrast, the Earth reaches aphelion currently in early July, approximately 14 days after the June solstice. The aphelion distance between the Earth's and Sun's centers is currently about 1.016 71 AU or ...