“Earth’s Orbit: How it Affects Distance from the Sun and Potential Consequences”

Jakarta –

So far we only realize that the Earth orbits according to its trajectory and is at a distance from the Sun. But what if the Earth is farther from the Sun?

In fact, the distance from the Sun to Earth is not static. The sun actually gets farther from Earth over time. According to an explanation by the Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the average Earth is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from the Sun.

However, its orbit is not perfectly circular, aka slightly elliptical or oval in shape. This means that Earth’s distance from the sun can range from about 91.4 million to 94.5 million miles (147.1 million to 152.1 million km). LiveScience.

Earth’s orbit

Basically, the Earth is constantly revolving around the Sun. However, humans may not be able to feel it.

That’s because the Sun, which has a diameter roughly 100 times that of Earth, exerts a gravitational pull on all the planets in our solar system.

Without any orbit, Earth would most likely crash directly into the Sun. That’s because our planet’s path around a big, bright star prevents Earth from being pulled directly by the Sun’s gravity.

So How Can Earth Get Away From The Sun?

In fact, the Earth can indeed move away from the Sun but still within predictable limits. The distance between the Earth and the Sun that is getting farther has two main causes.

First, because the Sun is losing mass. The nuclear fusion reactions that power the Sun convert mass into energy, following Einstein’s famous equation E = mc^2.

Because the Sun is constantly producing energy, it is also constantly losing mass. NASA estimates that the remaining life span of the Sun is about 5 billion years.

Brian DiGiorgio, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, also predicts that the Sun will lose about 0.1% of its total mass before it begins to die.

Second, because of the influence of the tides. Just as the Moon’s gravitational pull produces tides on Earth, so can Earth’s gravity pull on the Sun.

As you know, the sun rotates on its axis once every 27 days. Because this is faster than the 365 or more days it takes Earth to complete an orbit around the Sun, the tidal bulge that Earth produces when the sun is in front of Earth.

DiGiorgio said, as the Earth moves away from the Sun, the Sun’s light will become dimmer. Given that the Earth’s distance from the sun may grow by 0.2% over the next 5 billion years.

Earth’s Condition If the Sun’s Distance to Earth Becomes Very Far

Because it has rotated according to its orbit, if there is a small change in orbit, for example the Earth moves closer to the sun, it will cause much more intense heat on this planet, as quoted from Science HowStuffWorks.

Glaciers around the world will melt rapidly and cause sea level rise, flooding and global chaos.

Conversely, if the Earth were to move farther from the sun, all water bodies on the planet would freeze. The oceans would be covered in ice causing them to release less carbon dioxide and steam.

This would also make the year longer because the farther a planet is from the sun, the longer it takes to complete its annual orbit.

Earth’s distance from the Sun could also have the effect of shifting the orbit of the rest of the solar system. Small changes in the Earth’s trajectory as it travels around the Sun can cause the planets to collide.

Watch Video “Scientists Predict the Occurrence of a Star Swallowing Earth“

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