Earth\u2019s orbit<\/a> around the Sun is elliptical, meaning it\u2019s slightly oval-shaped. However, this elliptical orbit doesn\u2019t have a dramatic impact on the temperatures we experience. The difference in distance between perihelion and aphelion is only about 3%, which is not enough to cause significant temperature changes between the two points.<\/p>\n Perihelion and Winter in the Northern Hemisphere<\/p>\n Even though Earth is closer to the Sun at perihelion, the cold temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere winter are caused by the planet\u2019s axial tilt<\/a>, not its proximity to the Sun. In January, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, meaning it receives less direct sunlight, resulting in shorter days and colder temperatures. Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere experiences summer as it\u2019s tilted towards the Sun.<\/p>\n This coincidence of perihelion with winter in the Northern Hemisphere is simply that: a coincidence. While Earth\u2019s orbit is elliptical, the positions of perihelion and aphelion relative to the solstices shift slowly over time. Currently, perihelion occurs in early January, but this won\u2019t always be the case.<\/p>\n Perihelion and Aphelion: The Subtle Shift Over Time<\/p>\n The timing of perihelion and aphelion changes gradually over time due to the gravitational forces exerted by other planets, especially Jupiter <\/a>and Saturn<\/a>. According toTimeandDate<\/a>, these forces cause a slow drift in the dates of these events. For example, right now, perihelion occurs a few weeks after the December solstice, but this alignment won\u2019t last forever. In about 4,000 years, perihelion will coincide with the March equinox.<\/p>\n This gradual shift also affects the length of the seasons. Right now, summer in the Northern Hemisphere lasts about 4.5 days longer than winter, but this will change over time. One thing will remain constant, however: the tilt of Earth\u2019s axis will always be the main factor driving the seasons, not the distance to the Sun.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every January, Earth reaches its closest point to the Sun, known as perihelion. Yet, it\u2019s winter in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[61,60,82,247],"class_list":{"0":"post-212049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Sun](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/sun-distances-scaled.png.webp.webp\")
Earth\u2019s orbit showing perihelion in January and aphelion in July. Credit: TimeandDate.<\/p>\n