The Earth will pass its farthest point from the Sun on July 3

On Thursday, the Earth will reach aphelion, the point of its orbit farthest from the Sun. At that moment, the distance between the planet and the star will be the maximum of the year, the press service of the Moscow Planetarium told TASS .

The apparent diameter of the Sun will decrease by about 3% compared to January 4, when the Earth was at perihelion, the closest point in its orbit to the Sun, at a distance of just over 147 million km. This difference can be seen by comparing professional photographs of the Sun taken by astronomers in early January and early July.

“On July 3, the Earth will be at its greatest distance from the Sun in a year – more than 152 million km,” the TASS planetarium reported.

The Earth is closest to the Sun in winter and farthest in summer.

Moreover, the change of seasons is not associated with a change in the distance to the Sun, but is caused by the tilt of the planet’s axis of rotation relative to the plane of its orbit.

"The distance between the Earth and the Sun changes by about 3% during the year due to the slightly elongated shape of the orbit - an ellipse. However, this deviation is small, since the Earth's orbit is almost circular," the Moscow Planetarium noted.

Previously, a signal from a long-dead satellite puzzled astronomers.

Authors: