From now till August 22 this year, it will be colder than previous years. They call it Aphelion phenomenon.
Starting tomorrow at 05.27 we will experience the APHELION PHENOMENON, where the Earth will be very far from the Sun. We cannot see the phenomenon, but we can feel its impact.
This will last until August 2022. We will experience cold weather more than the previous cold weather, which will have an impact on flu, cough, shortness of breath, etc.
Therefore, let’s all increase immunity by drinking lots of vitamins or supplements so that our immunity is strong.
The distance from Earth to the Sun is 5 light minutes or 90,000,000 km. The phenomenon of aphelion to 152,000,000 km. 66% further.
Therefore let all parent take good care of their children by putting on cardigan for them and the Adult to take a lot of warm water or tea. And thick clothing during this period.
–Anonymous
Earth is farthest from Sun, about 152 million kilometres away
The solar system is composed of eight planets, omitting the unfortunate Pluto, each dancing around the Sun in their own orbits separated by millions and billions of kilometers in the darkness of space. July 4th marks a special day for Earth, which moves into aphelion.
Aphelion is a position where the distance between the Sun and Earth is the longest. The two objects hanging in space are separated by nearly 152.1 million kilometers, nearly 1.67 per cent farther from the sun than the mean Earth-sun separation.
The mean Earth-Sun separation is known as the Astronomical Unit (AI), where 1 AU is equal to 149.6 million kilometers.
There are two days on the calendar when the distance between the Sun and Earth is either the farthest or closest.
While for long it was believed that the Earth moved around the Sun in an orbit which was circular, it was only in the 17th century that Johannes Kepler, a German astronomer, figured out the unique elliptical orbit. The unique orbit leads to Earth either at the farthest point in its revolution around the Sun, or the closest.
The unique path is due to the gravitational influences of other planetary objects, especially the Moon. According to EarthSky, nearly every 100,000 years, the Earth’s orbital path changes from being nearly circular to elliptical. Due to this phenomenon, Earth experiences aphelion and perihelion.
While the perihelion falls about two weeks after the December solstice, the aphelion happens two weeks after the June solstice, when it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere.
The two words perihelion and aphelion have been taken from ancient Greek, where peri means close, apo means far, and Helios means the Sun. Together these two positions are known as apsides – the points of the least or greatest distance of a celestial object in orbit around another astronomical body.
Fact Check: Experts say Earth’s aphelion, when the sun is furthest away, has no impact on temperatures or human health
Posts shared on Facebook in Africa and Europe claim that a cosmological event called the “aphelion phenomenon” has been causing extremely cold weather on Earth since July 4, 2022, and will continue to do so until August 22, 2022, because of the increased distance to the sun. The posts also claim the event will cause people to fall ill. But this is false: two astronomers told AFP Fact Check the aphelion is an annual occurrence which has no impact on Earth’s temperature or human health.
“They call it APHELION PHENOMENON. If most of us have noticed the cold weather. This started last month will last till August 22nd (sic),” reads a post published on Facebook in Nigeria on July 6, 2022.
The aphelion occurs when the Earth is at its furthest point from the sun – usually about 152 million kilometres away. Typically, the distance from one to the other is roughly 150 million kilometres.
The post adds that because of the aphelion, people will experience extremely cold weather, more than usual, and the fluctuation “might” see flu-related illnesses rise.
The same claim was also shared in Kenya in English and in Europe, in Spanish and Portuguese.
But this is false.
Phenomenon has no effect on temperatures
Astronomers Genevieve Soucail and Andrea Sánchez, who spoke to AFP Fact Check in Uruguay, said the aphelion, an annual event which took place this year on July 4, 2022, has no effect on Earth’s temperature and human health.
Sanchez said that while it is true that the distance between Earth and the sun changes during aphelion, “the change is very minimal” and is not significant enough to have an impact on our global temperature.
“Every year we experience aphelion,” said Sánchez, and “there is always confusion: [people] believe that the seasons are impacted by the distance between the Earth and sun, but this is not the case”.
The transition to aphelion or perihelion (the point nearest to the sun in the path of an orbiting celestial body) “generates a small difference in the luminous flux [received by the Earth], but this is very minimal and is not at all linked to weather differences,” said Soucail.
According to the two experts, changes in seasonal temperatures occur because of variations in solar insolation – which is the sun’s energy that reaches Earth – resulting from the tilt of our planet’s rotational axis.
This “determines that during a specific season, [the planet] receives more solar radiation in its southern hemisphere and that during another; [the same phenomenon applies] to the northern hemisphere,” said Sánchez.
Soucail said that “the average temperatures in summer in the northern hemisphere are higher than in the southern hemisphere,” even though “Earth is farther from the sun during summer in the northern hemisphere and … the perihelion is reached when it is summer in the southern hemisphere.”
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed to AFP Fact Check on July 1, 2022, that it had not published any studies about aphelion and its possible health consequences.
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