Earth's orbit around the sun is not a perfect circle, it's an ellipse, and on July 4th, Earth will be at the end of the ellipse farthest from the sun. Astronomers call this "aphelion." When we are at aphelion, the sun appears smaller in the sky (by 1.7%) and global solar heating is actually a little less (by 3.5%) than average.
To commemorate the aphelion of 2008, there was an expedition by a group of greek amateur astronomers in order to photograph the sun setting behind the Portara, entrance to the 2500-yr-old Temple of Apollo on the Greek island of Naxos.
The team members were: Anthony Ayiomamitis, Chris Kotsiopoulos, John Doukoumopoulos, Anthony, George Hamilothoris and me.
"The white sun, virtually at aphelion, seemed to pass right through the Portara". "The presence of tourists in the foreground enriched the scene with the silhouettes they cast while marveling at the sunset." Even a little sun is a big beauty!
This image appears on spaceweather web site on July 03, 2008
http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Konstantinos-Christodoulopoulos-sunset7_1214770039.jpg
Technical Details
Optics: Canon EF 24 mm lens
Mount: Tripod
Camera: Canon EOS 300 D
Filters: -
Date: 28 June, 2008
Location: Naxos island, Greece
Exposure: 1/1600 sec, ISO 100
