Oman's skies to witness aphelion on Monday

Muscat: Earth will reach aphelion, its farthest point from the Sun in its annual orbit, tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. Oman time. At that moment, the distance between the centers of Earth and the Sun will be approximately 152.1 million kilometers, or about 1.0167 astronomical units (AU).

Wisal bint Salem Al Hinai, Head of the Community Outreach Committee at the Oman Astronomical Society, said aphelion is an annual astronomical event that occurs in early July because Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical rather than perfectly circular, with an orbital eccentricity of about 0.0167, as described by Johannes Kepler's laws of planetary motion.

She explained that Earth reaches perihelion, its closest point to the Sun, in early January each year, when the distance shrinks to about 147 million kilometers. The difference between aphelion and perihelion is roughly 5 million kilometers.

Al Hinai noted that one of the most common misconceptions is that summer heat and winter cold are caused by Earth's changing distance from the Sun. She clarified that the true reason for the changing seasons is Earth's 23.5-degree axial tilt relative to the plane of its orbit, not the variation in distance.

She added that Earth's axial tilt changes the angle at which sunlight strikes the surface and affects the length of daylight throughout the year. During summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun's rays are more direct and daylight lasts longer, increasing the amount of solar energy reaching Earth's surface and raising temperatures. The opposite occurs during winter.

She further explained that the variation in Earth-Sun distance changes solar energy by only about 3 percent relative to the average distance of 149.6 million kilometers, making its effect minimal compared with the influence of Earth's axial tilt, which is the primary driver of the seasons.

Al Hinai emphasized that aphelion provides an opportunity to promote accurate public understanding of astronomy, correct common misconceptions about the causes of the seasons, and strengthen scientific awareness through observation-based astronomical knowledge.