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                           Astronomy Picture of the Day   
      
       Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our   
         fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation   
                       written by a professional astronomer.   
      
                                  2024 January 13   
      
                                 Circling the Sun   
                     Image Credit & Copyright: Radoslav Zboran   
      
      Explanation: Earth's orbit around the Sun is not a circle, it's an   
      ellipse. The point along its elliptical orbit where our fair planet is   
      closest to the Sun is called perihelion. This year, perihelion was on   
      January 2 at 01:00 UTC, with the Earth about 3 million miles closer to   
      the Sun than it was at aphelion (last July 6), the farthest point in   
      its elliptical orbit. Of course, distance from the Sun doesn't   
      determine the seasons, and it doesn't the determine size of Sun halos.   
      Easier to see with the Sun hidden behind a tall tree trunk, this   
      beautiful ice halo forms a 22 degree-wide circle around the Sun,   
      recorded while strolling through the countryside near Heroldstatt,   
      Germany. The Sun halo's 22 degree angular diameter is determined by the   
      six-sided geometry of water ice crystals drifting high in planet   
      Earth's atmosphere.   
      
                       Tomorrow's picture: there be dragons   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Ryan Smallcomb Specific rights apply.   
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                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,   
                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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