Perihelion, Aphelion and the Solstices

By Aparna Kher
The Earth is closest to the Sun – at its Perihelion – about 2 weeks after the December
Solstice and farthest from the Sun – at its Aphelion – about 2 weeks after the June
Solstice.

Earth's orbit around the Sun changes.

Changing Elliptical Orbit

Earth orbits the Sun in an elliptical path, which means that there is 1 point of the path when the Sun
is at its closest to the Earth and 1 point when it is furthest away.
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Orbit Changes Shape

The shape of this path varies due to gravitational influences of other planetary objects, particularly
the Moon.
Approximately every 100,000 years, Earth's orbital path changes from being nearly circular to
elliptical. The difference of the Earth’s orbital shape from a perfect circle is known as
its eccentricity. An eccentricity value of 0 is a circular orbit, while values between 0 and 1 describe
an elliptical orbit.
Aphelion in Manila, Philippines is on
Saturday, 4 July 2020, 19:34 PHT (Change city)
Distance from the Sun's center to Earth's center will be 152,095,295 km (94,507,635 mi)
Year Perihelion Distance Aphelion Distance

2020 5 January 2020 15:47 147,091,144 km 4 July 2020 19:34 152,095,295 km

2021 2 January 2021 21:50 147,093,163 km 6 July 2021 06:27 152,100,527 km

2022 4 January 2022 14:52 147,105,052 km 4 July 2022 15:10 152,098,455 km

2023 5 January 2023 00:17 147,098,925 km 7 July 2023 04:06 152,093,251 km

2024 3 January 2024 08:38 147,100,632 km 5 July 2024 13:06 152,099,968 km

* All aphelion/perihelion times are in local Manila time.

Earth's Perihelion and Aphelion

The Earth is closest to the Sun, or at the perihelion, about 2 weeks after the December Solstice,
when it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Conversely, the Earth is farthest away from the Sun, at
the aphelion point, 2 weeks after the June Solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is enjoying
warm summer months.
Astronomical terms & definitions

Is the Timing a Coincidence?

The dates when Earth reaches the extreme points on its orbit are not fixed because of the variations
in its eccentricity. In 1246, the December Solstice was on the same day as the Earth reached its
Perihelion. Since then, the Perihelion and Aphelion dates have drifted by a day every 58 years. In
the short-term, the dates can vary up to 2 days from one year to another.
Mathematicians and astronomers estimate that in the year 6430, over 4000 years from now, the
timing of the Perihelion and the March Equinox will coincide.
What causes seasons?

Perigee and Apogee

Like the Earth's orbit around the Sun, the Moon's path around the Earth is elliptical. The point in the
Moon's orbit that is closest to the Earth is called the Perigee and the point farthest from the Earth is
known as the Apogee. The terms are also sometimes used interchangeably with the Earth's
Perihelion and Aphelion.

Did You Know...

...that the words Perihelion and Aphelion come from ancient Greek, where peri means
close, apo means far, and helios means the Sun? They are used in astronomy to refer to the closest
and farthest points of the orbits of any object revolving around the Sun. Together, they are called
apsides - the points of least or greatest distance of a celestial object in orbit around another
astronomical body.
Topics: Astronomy, Solstice, Sun, Equinox
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