What is the Aphelion Phenomenon that Occurs Every July?

JAKARTA – What is the aphelion phenomenon? This question often arises every time July arrives. No wonder, because the astronomical event that occurs once a year always occurs around July.

Aphelion itself comes from the ancient Greek words ‘apo’ and ‘helios’. Apo means far, while helios means sun. The word is used in astronomy to refer to the farthest point in the orbit of any object revolving around the sun.

Meanwhile, aphelion according to astronomical terms is a phenomenon that occurs when the earth reaches its furthest distance from the sun. According to the Time and Date page, the earth’s furthest distance from the sun occurs about two weeks after the June solstice, when the northern hemisphere enjoys summer.

This year, the aphelion phenomenon on Earth has occurred on July 5, 2024 at 12:06. On that date, the distance from the center of the sun to the center of the earth is 152,099,968 km.

So the question now is, what impact does the ephelion phenomenon have on Earth?

Some scientists say the natural event has no impact on the weather on Earth, other than the sun appearing smaller. According to BMKG, when aphelion occurs, the sun’s diameter does indeed appear to shrink by about 1.68 percent.

BMKG asserted that the public’s assumption that the aphelion phenomenon has an impact on decreasing temperatures on the earth’s surface so that the weather on our planet becomes colder is not true. Because basically the exposure to sunlight that reaches the earth does not experience a significant impact when the phenomenon occurs.

If in July the regions in Indonesia feel colder, even frozen dew or ice appears in the highlands, this is due to the season that occurs on the Australian continent.

July in the northern hemisphere is the peak of summer. Meanwhile, Australia, which is in the southern hemisphere, is experiencing winter. The cold weather in Australia is carried to parts of Indonesia because of the movement of air masses called monsoons.

The air moving from Australia towards the Indonesian archipelago through the waters of the Indonesian Ocean is also relatively cold. This factor makes the temperature in the southern part of Indonesia on the equator colder.

(tsa)