The Earth moves in an elliptical orbit around the Sun, marking the cycle that we know as a year. And although it seems very simple, in reality this displacement keeps its complexities. Our planet does not always travel at the same speed, this depends on how close it is to the Major Astro. In 2022, the Earth is close to reaching its maximum speed and approaching perihelionthat is, the closest point to the Sun.
Thanks to astrophysics we know that the orbit described by the Earth around the Sun is 930 million kilometers. If the pertinent calculations are carried out, then we obtain that the average travel speed is 107,280 kilometers per hour. In this way, it squares with the 365 days and almost 6 hours that the planet takes to complete one revolution around its host star.
Kepler’s Second Law
Thanks to Kepler’s laws, it is known that our planet experiences variations in its speed, depending on how close and far it is to the Sun. According to Kepler’s second law, the speed increases until reaching its maximum (110,700 kilometers per hour) at the point known as perihelionwhich is the position of the Earth closest to the Sun. And conversely, it is reduced to the minimum (103,536 kilometers per hour) at aphelion, which is the greatest distance between the Earth and the Sun.
Surprisingly, there is a difference of more than 7 thousand kilometers per hour between perihelion and aphelion. Which makes it clear to us that the Earth does not always move at the same speed, but undergoes important changes depending on the interaction with its host star.
When will the Earth’s perihelion be in 2022?
According to Earth Sky, the perihelion of 2022 will occur on January 4 at 00:52 CST, When the Earth is positioned at 147 million kilometers from the Sun. Therefore, it will be this day when we will move at the highest speed around the Major Astro, according to Kepler’s second law, at 110,700 kilometers per hour.
For his part he aphelion, which is the farthest distance, the July 4th, when our planet moves 5 million kilometers away, taking perihelion as a reference. This day the speed will be reduced to reach 103,536 kilometers per hour around the Sun.
Although Johannes Kepler, a German astronomer, did not have all the theoretical framework that has been developed today on the forces of the Universe, he was able to establish a mathematical description of the movements of the planets. Thus he established his three known laws that have given current astronomers guidelines to learn more about the Solar System. And although at the time Kepler could not fully understand what caused these variations, today we know that it is thanks to the interaction of gravitational fields that the Earth accelerates and decelerates in its transit around the Sun.
Stay tuned for January 4, 2022, because even if we fail to perceive it, we will be aware that the planet will accelerate and reach its maximum translation speed. An interesting phenomenon between the terrestrial cosmic dance and its Major Astro.
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