Does The Sun Look Smaller in the summer?

Story Published: Mar 13, 2008 at 1:13 PM PDT

Story Updated: Apr 10, 2008 at 3:58 PM PDT

By Steve Pool

SEATTLE - It's hard to notice since you're not supposed to look directly at it, but the sun is about 5 percent smaller now than it was in January. But not to worry, it's like this every July.

The Earth's orbit around the sun is not a perfect circle. Around July 5, the Earth is at its farthest point to the sun -- about 5 million kilometers farther than when it's at its closest point around Jan. 4. But we're still warm here in Seattle, because the tilt of the Earth's axis is much more influential to our seasons than the slight change (astronomically speaking) in distance from the sun.

The Earth does get about 7% less sunlight in summer compared to winter, but there's more land mass in the Northern Hemisphere, which absorbs more sunlight.

For More Information:

science.nasa.gov

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

KOMO Weather

Current Temp 58 °F

Mostly Cloudy

Wind : From the North at 13 MPH

Humidity : 72 %

Pressure : 30.18" (1022.5 mb)

More Weather

Traffic

Traffic Alert

North Cascades Highway (S.R. 20) is closed due to high avalanche danger through the weekend. Crews will return on Monday to assess road conditions. The state DOT advises drivers to check mountain pass conditions for all passes before leaving this weekend.

More Traffic