The Taipei Astronomical Museum invites members of the public to come to the museum on Thursday and observe the Sun as Earth reaches its closest point to it in 2023 — known as perihelion.
Astronomical buffs can visit the museum’s second observation room from 10 a.m. to noon and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. to observe the Sun safely through professional telescopes, it said in a statement released Wednesday.
Compared with Earth at the aphelion — the farthest point of its orbit around the Sun — the Sun will appear 11 percent larger on Thursday, according to the museum.
On that day, the two celestial bodies will be about 152 million kilometers apart from each other, making the Sun appear its largest to people on Earth in 2023, it said.
The shorter distance between Earth and the Sun will not make the temperature warmer, the museum said, explaining that it is rather the angle which an area on Earth is tilted away or toward the Sun that determines temperatures in general.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel