Today is the day that the earth reaches perihelion, the closest point to the sun in its annual orbit.
From the Greek peri -- meaning near, helion -- meaning son.
It also marks the beginning of some extremely cold weather here in the US Midwest. I suppose we should be glad that we are not faced with the summer heat that our southern hemisphere friends have. It is a good thing that we humans are an adaptable species.
Although we use 24 hour days, the actual time of each day varies slightly as we make our elliptical orbit around our sun. And our earth's spin is slowing down! As the moon orbits the earth, its gravitational pull is actually slowing our rotation. It (the moon) is also inching farther away from the earth.
Science -- it is pretty amazing.
I may check and compare weather conditions for our counterparts on the other side of the globe from time to time. 37 degrees north latitude covers a lot of land and people around the globe, while 37 degrees south latitude touches relatively few.
The line cuts through Chile and Argentina in South America, is farther south than the entire continent of Africa, just hits the southern most parts of Australia, and runs through the capitol city of New Zealand.
Currently it is about 1:30 on Sunday morning in Melbourne, Australia and 76f (24.4c).
Here it is just 8:30 on Saturday morning and it is just below freezing.
I doubt that Melbourne will be below freezing six months from now on July 4th!
It looks like it will be overcast all day in the Ozarks. In spite of the fact that we are closer to the sun than we will be all year, it doesn't appear that we will get to see it today. Groucho and I will have to count on the fireplace for warmth.
John
1 comment:
I did not know about perihelion. I've learned enough for today. Time for a nap.
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