concepts · updated 2026-05-12
Consider perihelion
confidence: medium volatility: cold verified: 2026-07-19fresh
A short essay by Steve Baer (Zomeworks Corporation) dated January 4, 2004 — perihelion day that year. Baer argues that despite widespread attention to climate and temperature, "few are aware that the
A short essay by Steve Baer (Zomeworks Corporation) dated January 4, 2004 — perihelion day that year. Baer argues that despite widespread attention to climate and temperature, “few are aware that the sun is 7% stronger in January than July.”
The orbital fact
Earth’s elliptical orbit brings it 3½% closer to the sun at perihelion (early January) than at aphelion (early July). Because radiant intensity follows the inverse-square law, this produces a 7% difference in solar radiation between the two dates. For the Northern Hemisphere, winter sunlight is slightly more intense than sun-angle alone would predict, and summer sunlight slightly less.
Perihelion as a clock
Baer is most interested in perihelion as a slow timekeeper. It is not fixed to the solstices: it drifts later by about 25 minutes per year — one day every 57 years — completing a full cycle in roughly 21,000 years. He frames this as a “giant century hand”:
In “perihelion time” the atom bomb was invented a day ago, the steam engine a week ago, and fire a year or two ago. We might remember that perihelion coinciding with winter in the Northern Hemisphere is a big favor we enjoy that will pass.
The piece contrasts perihelion with more visible astronomical events — solstices, equinoxes, eclipses — noting that perihelion “can be identified only with exact instruments,” yet the climate we live in is a consequence of it. This connects to the archive’s broader emphasis on measurement over intuition.
The analemma
The essay includes a note (possibly editorial) explaining the analemma — the figure-eight traced by the sun’s noontime position over a year. The analemma results from combining Earth’s 23.5° axial tilt with its elliptical orbit. This is the visual signature of the perihelion effect.