Earth at its Closest Point to Sun this Week
By Meghan Evans, Meteorologist
Jan 4, 2012; 5:12 AM ET
The Earth's perihelion, or the point in the Earth's orbit that is closest to the sun, will occur today into Thursday.
Since the Earth's orbit is elliptical around the sun, there is a closest point to the sun, perihelion, and a farthest point from the sun, aphelion.
The Earth reaches its closest point to the sun every year around Jan. 3, during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. This may seem counter intuitive, but it is not the earth's distance to the sun that causes changes in the seasons.
Instead, the seasons are caused by the directness of sunlight due to the Earth's elliptical orbit around the sun and the Earth's axial tilt, which is 23.5 degrees.
During winter, there is the least direct sunlight, and during summer, there is the most direct sunlight.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the cold season is slightly shorter than the warm season.
"When the Earth is farther away from the sun, the distance traveled by the Earth during each day is less," according to Expert Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews.
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