aphelion
Americannoun
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aphelia
plural
noun
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The point at which an orbiting body, such as a planet or comet, is farthest away from the Sun.
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Compare apogee perihelion
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Etymology
Origin of aphelion
1650–60; Hellenized form of New Latin aphēlium < Greek *aphḗlion ( diástēma ) off-sun (distance), neuter of *aphḗlios (adj.), equivalent to ap- ap- 2 + hḗli ( os ) sun + -os adj. suffix. See apogee
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Example Sentences
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The exact distances of Earth’s perihelion and aphelion change a bit from year to year because of the gravitational influence of the other planets, as well as that of the moon.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 30, 2023
Earth reaches aphelion July 3, the most distant spot on its imperfect, annual orbit around the sun.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 1, 2017
Satellites circling Mars have seen aphelion clouds sitting close to the surface at night, then rising 20 kilometers up in the afternoon.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 22, 2017
Mercury has a highly elliptical orbit, so that it is only about two-thirds as far from the Sun at perihelion as it is at aphelion.
From Textbooks ● Oct. 13, 2016
In regard to the earth and the other planets, these two points are called the aphelion and perihelion; and in regard to the moon they are called the apogee and perigee.
From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 2 Amiel to Atrauli by Various
The extremes of temperature at perihelia and aphelia to which comets are subjected did not bother him particularly.
From Astronomy: The Science of the Heavenly Bodies by David Peck Todd
Their orbits have ever since been ellipses with their aphelia in groups corresponding to the distances of the planets concerned.
From Astronomy: The Science of the Heavenly Bodies by David Peck Todd
The two last-named comets would likewise seem to have a period of revolution not exceeding five or six years, and their aphelia are in the vicinity of Jupiter's orbit.
From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Alexander von Humboldt
From considerations on the aphelia of certain comets, Prof. Forbes in 1880 computed the probable position of such a body.
From Astronomical Curiosities Facts and Fallacies by J. Ellard Gore
It is well known that those of moderately short periods are, for a reason already explained, connected with the larger planets in such a way that the cometary aphelia fall near some planetary orbit.
From A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century Fourth Edition by Agnes M. (Agnes Mary) Clerke
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
