noun
definition
The point in the elliptical orbit of a planet or comet etc. where it is nearest to the Sun
Examples of perihelion in a Sentence
In 1898 the remarkable minor planet Eros was discovered, which, on those rare occasions when in opposition near perihelion, would approach the earth to a distance of 0 .
But the most striking incident in the history of the verification of Newton's law was the return of Halley's comet to perihelion, on the 12th of March 1759, in approximate accordance with Clairault's calculation of the delays due to the action of Jupiter and Saturn.
After a rough estimate of the perturbations it must sustain from the attraction of the planets, he predicted its return for 1757,-a bold prediction at that time, but justified by the event, for the comet again made its appearance as was expected, though it did not pass through its perihelion till the month of March 1759, the attraction of Jupiter and Saturn having caused, as was computed by Clairault previously to its return, a retardation of 618 days.
This is the origin of the appearance of the Winged Disk during Nibiru's perihelion passage.
The position of closest approach to the sun is called the perihelion and the position of greatest distance is the aphelion.
This corresponds to the next perihelion of Nibiru, giving it a periodicity of 3760 minus 4, equalling 3756 years.
Cassini, the great comet of 1680 after its perihelion passage; and having returned to England, he married in 1682 Mary, daughter of Mr Tooke, auditor of the exchequer, with whom he lived harmoniously for fifty-five years.
Newcomb found an excess of motions in the perihelion of Mars amounting to about 5" per century.
An Anomalistic year is the time (365 days, 6 hours, 13 minutes, 48 seconds) in which the earth (and similarly for any other planet) passes from perihelion to perihelion, or from any given value of the anomaly to the same again.
On the other hand the enigmatical motion of the perihelion of Mercury has not yet found any plausible explanation except on the hypothesis that the gravitation of the sun diminishes at a rate slightly greater than that of the inverse square - the most simple modification being to suppose that instead of the exponent of the distance being exactly - 2, it is - 2.000 000 161 2.
It returned to its perihelion in 1835, and was well observed in almost every observatory.
Seeliger, published in 1906, who showed that the observed excess of motion of the perihelion of Mercury may be accounted for by the action of that portion of the matter reflecting the zodiacal light which lies nearest to the sun.