Question: does the sky go around faster at different times of the year

Sara Imari Walker answered on 21 Jun 2011:

Hello martyg! Interesting question! Have you noticed a difference? The sky in fact does not change its speed throughout the year. The Earth rotates at a set speed – just over 1,000 miles per hour. However, the Earth does move faster when it is closer to the Sun. Our orbit is elliptical, we are slightly closer to the Sun at aphelion than at perihelion (by about 4,000,000 km – but that’s not much given that our average orbital distance is 150,000,000 km) which means the Earth is slightly faster due to the small increase in gravity being nearer to the Sun. So we travel faster against the stars at certain times of year, but The sky doesn’t “go around” any faster since our rotation is at a set rate. Neat question!!