We are approximately 92.9 million miles from the Sun! Thank goodness! Because our orbit is not a perfect circle we are closest to the Sun in January at 91 million miles, and furthest from the Sun in July at about 94.5 million miles from the Sun! That's super cool information...but who in the "world" figured this out?? The short answer is: What they actually measure is the distance from the Earth to some other body, such as Venus. Then mathematicians use what they know about the relations between interplanetary distances to scale that to the Earth-Sun distance. Since 1961, scientists have been able to use radar to measure interplanetary distances - they transmit a radar signal at another planet (or moon or asteroid) and measure how long it takes for the radar echo to return. Before radar, astronomers had to rely on other (less direct) geometric methods. Okay, okay...the first step in measuring the distance between the Earth and the Sun is to find the relative distances between Earth and other planets. So, let us say that the distance between Earth and the Sun is "a". Now, consider the orbit of Venus. To a first approximation, the orbits of Earth and Venus are perfect circles around the Sun, and the orbits are in the same plane. Take a look at the diagram below (not to scale). From the representation of the orbit of Venus, it is clear that there are two places where the Sun-Venus-Earth angle is 90 degrees. At these points, the line joining Earth and Venus will be a tangent to the orbit of Venus. These two points indicate the greatest elongation of Venus and are the farthest from the Sun that Venus can appear in the sky. OKAY! The Earth is far away from the sun! We know that because...we just DO! Does it matter how far away we are from the Sun? Well, yes. If we were a little closer, Earth's temperatures would get warmer, if we were a little further away, Earth would be cooler. Besides that, the temperature on Earth is also dependent on other factors. If one calculates the equilibrium temperature on Earth based on energy balance, then one will find that it comes to around 0 F, which is quite cold. The reason why the Earth is warm at about 70 F is because of other factors like greenhouse effect. **Anyone who reads this post DESERVES a piece of candy!!
13 Comments
Ryker Bement
10/17/2018 05:00:29 pm
I thought that those pictures were funny
Reply
Jackson Baird
10/17/2018 05:48:45 pm
Same.
Reply
OLIVER ROPER
10/17/2018 06:55:01 pm
Ryker you think those are funny? Settle for the real memes in life.
Reply
Jackson Baird
10/17/2018 05:49:32 pm
I like this blog. :)
Reply
Michael
10/17/2018 11:19:09 pm
That girl is a total idiot and moron combined.
Reply
Michael
10/17/2018 11:21:12 pm
That is Eddie from fresh off the boat
Reply
Zach
10/18/2018 08:01:38 pm
I think it is cool how we are about 92.9 million miles from the earth.
Reply
Zach
10/19/2018 01:32:23 pm
I think the girl doing math is funny. She doesn't even know how to do math.
Reply
italia
10/22/2018 01:13:45 pm
Yeah I hope I an do math in the future.;)
Reply
Zach
10/21/2018 10:06:19 am
I really like this blog.
Reply
Alexander
10/22/2018 08:38:52 am
Good thing that Lady does not work for NASA! ;-)
Reply
Michael
10/22/2018 06:25:22 pm
hi people of the world
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |