While most of us were busy with our daily routines, the Earth quietly hit a major milestone in its journey around the Sun.
No fireworks, no visible signs in the sky—just a subtle shift in our planet’s position.
On Thursday, July 3, 2025, Earth reached its aphelion—the moment in the year when we are the farthest from the Sun.
This may seem a bit backward if you’re sweating through a Northern Hemisphere summer, but aphelion isn’t about heat—it’s about distance.
So, What Exactly Is Aphelion?
“Aphelion” might sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s actually a basic astronomical term.
It describes the point in a planet’s orbit when it is farthest from the star it orbits. For us, that star is the Sun.
Aphelion doesn’t just apply to Earth—it happens for all kinds of celestial bodies, including comets, asteroids, and other planets.
How Far Did We Drift This Time?
According to scientists at the Paris Observatory’s Space-Time Reference Laboratory, Earth reached its aphelion on July 3, 2025, at exactly 21:54:43 Paris time.
At that moment, we were sitting a whopping 152,087,737 kilometers away from the Sun.
To put that in perspective, the average Earth-Sun distance is defined as 1 astronomical unit (AU)—about 150 million kilometers.
So during aphelion, we’re roughly 2 million kilometers farther out than usual.
Aphelion and Perihelion: The Orbital Balancing Act
Aphelion has a cosmic counterpart called perihelion—that’s when Earth is closest to the Sun.
In case you’re wondering, we last hit perihelion on January 4, 2024.
The exact dates of these two events aren’t set in stone. Between 2019 and 2030, for example, aphelion has floated between July 3 and July 6.
This drift happens due to a few complex factors—like the fact that Earth and the Moon move around a shared center of mass (called the barycenter) and the Moon’s constantly shifting position during its orbit.
Does Aphelion Change the Weather?
You’d think being farther from the Sun would make things cooler, right? Not exactly.
The temperature and seasons aren’t determined by how close we are to the Sun, but by the tilt of Earth’s axis.
Still, aphelion does play a role in how long seasons last. Earth moves slower in its orbit when it’s farther from the Sun, and faster when it’s closer.
That’s why summer in the Northern Hemisphere—which happens around aphelion—is actually longer, while winter, which happens near perihelion, is shorter.
So in early July, we cruise slowly through summer. In early January, we zip through winter.
A Hidden Reminder of Earth’s Cosmic Dance
Aphelion might not be something you feel or even notice, but it’s a subtle reminder that we’re all passengers on a planet making an intricate, elliptical journey around the Sun.
These moments highlight the precision and beauty of our solar system’s design.
So next time you’re basking in the summer sun, remember—you’re actually the farthest from it you’ll be all year. Funny how space works, isn’t it?