The Sun's disk will appear especially large when observed from Earth on January 4. On this day, the planet will be at its closest distance to the star — at the point in its orbit closest to the Sun, called perihelion, the press service of the Moscow Planetarium reported.
Scientists reminded that observing the Sun with a telescope or other optical instruments requires the use of a special filter to protect the eyes from possible damage.
On January 4, the Earth will be at perihelion, at the closest distance from the Sun. This will allow us to observe the largest disk of the Sun in 2025.
At 16:28 Moscow time on January 4, our planet will approach the Sun at the closest possible distance. The distance between them will be reduced to 147,099,586.3 kilometers.
The farthest point of Earth's orbit from the Sun will be passed on July 5, 2025 at 08:08 Moscow time. At this moment, the distance between the Earth and the Sun will be 152,096,155.2 kilometers.
If we compare images of the Sun taken on these dates, we can see that the January Sun will be 3% larger than the July Sun.
The seasons change depending on the tilt of the Earth's axis to the plane of the orbit. In fact, in winter the Earth is closest to the Sun, and in summer it is farthest away. The change in distance between the Earth and the Sun does not affect the onset of one season or another.
Earlier www1.ru reported that in the coming years a destructive superflare may occur on the Sun, which could cause serious damage to modern civilization. A well-known example in history is the so-called "Carrington Event," which occurred in 1859 and was named after astronomer Richard Carrington. Then, the consequences of a superflare on the Sun led to fires at telegraph stations around the world. At that time, serious damage was avoided, since humanity was not as dependent on technology as it is now. However, in our time, scientists say, the consequences could be much more devastating.
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