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Herself has discovered - I blame Google - that today is Perihelion, and that we are over 5,000,000km closer to the sun than we were last July. She has also noticed that it is in fact bl**dy freezing round here and that it wasn't last summer. 
Now I know it's that the axis of rotation is not perpendicular to our rotation round the sun and that the tilt of a tiny (13,000km) object affects the temperature more than being 5,000,000km closer to a huge ball of fire, but ... how do I explain that to her? When she is cold, she moves closer to the heat, not leans over a tiny bit! 
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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The difference between aphelion and perihelion is only about 3.4%
On that basis She should expect to get warmer when she breathes in deeply. (If she's facing the fire her front parts will get about that much closer when she breathes in.) Of course, it would help if she breathed in and out slowly, for six months each.
Phil
The opinions expressed in this post are not necessarily those of the author, especially if you find them impolite, inaccurate or inflammatory.
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Get her to stand in front of the fire and lean back as far as she can. Now ask her whether her head is as warm as her feet. Alternatively, while in the leaning position, walk round a bonfire for a year.
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Ah, yes - my favourite topic!
Happy new arbitrary-period-of-time-close-to-but-not-quite-one-year-from-the-entirely-arbitrary-date-when-this-was-last-celebrated to one and all!
We should really celebrate the tropical year, the sidereal year or the anomalistic year - these can be calculated precisely. Let's face it - so the earth nearly - but not quite - went around the sun once from an entirely arbitrary position, both astronomically and calendrically. The earth actually needs to spin another two quarter days to get to where it was (roughly) since the last leap year.
Sidereal year = 365 d 6 h 9 min 9.76 s
Tropical year = 365 d 5 h 48 min 45 s
Anomalistic year = 365 d 6 h 13 min 52.6 s
As a result of all this arbitrary nonsense, I now celebrate perihelion day. This morning I toasted in the new year with a bacon buttie and a large bloody Mary, at 07:20 local time (GMT +2).
Next year, the UK can join in without getting up at sparrowfart, as perihelion occurs nearly two and a half hours later.
So happy REAL new year to one and all. 
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The buttie sounds good, but that's a little early in the day for me to start drinking vodka. At least, I hope you were referring to the cocktail? What was your wife's name again ... 
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: What was your wife's name again ...
Definitely not Mary - 'though she can be quite contrary at times.  She joined me with a buck's fizz, as today is not a working day. 
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Wouldn't the latest sunrise of the year be the right time to start the new year? According to my calendar, the latest sunrise occurs on January 6, so Happy New Year! 
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As Phil said, the difference between perihelion and aphelion is only ~3.4%, so that isn't the cause of the difference. The difference is due to the fact that the Sun is (a) lower in the sky now than it was in July, and (b) appears for fewer hours in the day. Both these phenomena are due to the Earth's axial tilt.
If the Sun is directly overhead (which can never happen in Wales) on a cloudless, clear day, you will get the maximum possible amount of light & heat. When the Sun reaches a maximum height of ~60 degrees above the horizon, which is what you get in June, then the amount of light and heat is only ~86% of the maximum possible. When the Sun reaches a maximum height of ~15 degrees above the horizon, which is what you get in December, then the amount of light and heat is only ~24% of the maximum possible.
The effect of having Perihelion close to the winter solstice is to slightly moderate the cold of winter in the Northern hemisphere. A similar effect, moderating the heat of summer, occurs at aphelion.
Note that the actual effects of less sun are moderated due to the gulf stream, the winds in the atmosphere, etc. etc.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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OriginalGriff wrote: how do I explain that to her?
"The Earth is flat!" That should prevent any further questions.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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Just point out that she's in Wales.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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OriginalGriff wrote: how do I explain that to her?
Campfire on a cold night. Stand close enough so that front is warm but backside is cold. Now move forward half an inch and see if backside now gets warm.
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OriginalGriff wrote: how do I explain that to her?
"There, there, dear, don't worry your pretty little head".
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Conclusive proof that you are either
1) Single
Or
2) A UK Conservative Prime Minister.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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 very cool indeed.
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I don’t think the average person, myself included, can ever fully understand the magnitude of this accomplishment. In fact, the quantities involved are so far beyond the human experience, I suspect even the mission scientists and engineers struggle to truly visualize them.
First, consider the distance. Assume you wanted to emulate this trip. So, you decide to continually fly round-trip from New York to Sydney, until you equal the distance. Bad news here. It would take over 200,000 round-trip flights. Assuming you fly one leg of this round-trip, every single day, you would be flying for a bit over a thousand years.
The good news is that, if you’re willing to wait that long, you’ll save a bit on the trip. At around $200M for the commercial flights, you’d beat the $700M price tag for New Horizons 
Next, consider the navigation. Imagine you fire a bullet moving about 20 times as fast as the average rifle round. Your target is a different fast-moving bullet. Finally, make the problem a bit more difficult by requiring that you ricochet off two other fast-moving bullets on the way. Oh, and don’t forget that distance we talked about earlier. Simple right?
Then, consider the engineering. You decide to build a contraption that can accomplish almost all of these goals. Though, at that point you’re “only” aiming at that second bullet. You haven’t decided you’ll ricochet off of it yet.
So, you plan and lobby, lobby and plan…for a couple of decades. Then, you get permission (and funding) to actually build the thing. A few years later its built and launched. Yeah! Success, right?
Nope, you get to wait, and watch it travel, and wait…for an additional decade. Along the way, you decide that second ricochet would be really cool! You even find another bullet to hit. Finally, decades later, if you’ve got the patience, and are still around, you get to enjoy the payoff.
All done right? Maybe. They’re talking about another ricochet and another bullet
Personally, I am in awe of this accomplishment. And, more, as an engineer myself, the patience it must require to begin a project that might not be completed until after you’re gone.
Kudos, NASA! Home run on this one!
Now, can we talk about that Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway? Are you sure about it? Can I talk you out of it, please?
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Bull! Why stupid person? It's a contradiction. (8)
This space for rent
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Nice easy one to start the year!
OXYMORON
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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We have a winner (obviously)
This space for rent
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Pete O'Hanlon wrote: Bull! Why stupid person? It's a contradiction. (8)
Is it SCROTUMS?
Michael Martin
Australia
"I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible."
- Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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Spot cream for Piers.
veni bibi saltavi
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Over 24 hours late now...
@walterhevedeich
If it doesn't get posted by 13:00 UTC today, I'll reboot it tomorrow...
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Latest addition to family have just discovered the joys of my desk. In addition to detecting their presence on the keyboard it would also help if it could detect which monitor they have decided to look at and automatically transfer my work window to a vacant monitor.
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Here you go,[^]
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Already have three of those, different breed admittedly. They now cower in fear as kittens approach!
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