Astronomical events at the beginning of the year

On January 3, 2026, two cosmic events will occur, on the one hand, that night the super wolf moon will shine, it is super because it will be closer than normal, in addition it will be a full moon, it will be found in this specific case, Let's see 362,282 km from us, that is about 22,168 km closer than would be normal.

And this means that we are going to see a full moon, between 7% larger and between 12 to 15% brighter than the average, so it will be a romantic moment to take your partner and declare your love or make a wish or whatever, something romantic, take advantage of it because it is going to be a beautiful spectacle, but also on January 3rd the perihelion of the Earth will occur, it is the point in its orbit in which it will be closest to the Sun, we will be closer to the sun on January 3.

This occurs at the beginning of January, although the dates can vary by approximately two days, to be exact, that moment will be at 5:00 p.m. coordinated universal time, 6:00 p.m. peninsular time in Spain, 12:00 p.m. in central Mexico or 11:00 a.m. in the center of the United States and the Earth will be about 147 million kilometers from the Sun, that is about 5 million kilometers closer than aphelion, which is the furthest point and will be in 2026 on July 6.

If we are 5 million kilometers closer to the sun, how come it is winter now in the northern hemisphere? Obviously in the south it is summer, this is due to the fundamental reason for the seasons on Earth due to the inclination of the Earth's axis which is tilted at about 23.5 and this also influences the variation throughout the day of the hours of light and night. In winter the hours of light are much fewer than in summer.

Not only the hours in which we receive the heat of the sun in winter, but also the sun is lower in the sky and therefore its rays fall more obliquely, the solar radiation is the same whether it hits you on one side or the other. But when the sun's rays fall perpendicularly, each square meter of surface receives much more of them and therefore more energy than when the rays arrive obliquely or inclined.

This is easy to understand, in summer it is not the same to stand at noon in the sun as it is in the late afternoon, at noon in the sun in summer you sunbathe because you receive directly above your head the greatest amount of solar radiation per square meter, while in the late afternoon the sun is much more inclined on the horizon, apart from the fact that it also has to pass through more atmosphere.

But despite this, these 5 million kilometers do have a slight small effect, very curious, it has been calculated that these 5 million kilometers of difference represent a variation in solar energy of about 6.8%, this makes winters in the northern hemisphere slightly warmer than winters in the southern hemisphere.

In the extreme case of the poles, the rays go so horizontally that the solar energy, even if the sky is completely clear and blue, because there are also blue days at the south pole or the north pole, even so the rays are so oblique that the amount of radiation per square meter is very scarce and that is why it is so cold at both poles, also in the case of the North Pole, as it is over water, over the ocean, since the temperatures are slightly warmer than in Antarctica, which is over a continent and it is practically a giant ice cube.

Thank you for visiting my blog. If you like posts about #science, #planet, #politics, #rights #crypto, #traveling and discovering secrets and beauties of the #universe, feel free to Follow me as these are the topics I write about the most. Have a wonderful day and stay on this great platform :) :)

! The truth will set us free and science is the one that is closest to the truth!

---

Hello friends of the community, if you want to hunt monsters and earn Steem, try the new game HARRY-RAID you just have to enter the game, press PLAY, and show your cards, to hurt monsters.