So Far Away: Aphelion 2026

July is summer in the northern hemisphere and you might think this means we are closer to the Sun.

This is a common misconception. Earth is actually farther from the Sun in July, and on July 6th it is at its farthest distance in its orbit around the Sun. Earth’s orbit around the Sun is an ellipse. Its closest approach to the Sun in this orbit is called perihelion and its farthest is called aphelion.

This farthest point occurs on Monday, July 6, 2026 @ 17:30 UTC, 1:30 pm EDT • 10:30 am PDT. At that time the distance from Earth’s center to the Sun’s center will be 94,502,962 miles (152,087,775 km).

Fun way to remember which is which: “A” is for “Away!” (apo = away + helios = Sun) 🌞↔️🌍

The table below shows the date/time and distances for perihelion and aphelion from 2026 to 2030. 

You may ask yourself: Is there any relationship between perihelion/aphelion with the solstices since they are kind of close to one another?

Well yes, they always happen close to one another. Aphelion happens about 2 weeks after the June solstice and perihelion happens about 2 weeks after the December solstice. In 2026, the June solstice was on June 21 and aphelion arrives just 15 days later.

But here’s the wild part: this alignment is slowly drifting! Back in the year 1246, perihelion happened on the very same day as the December solstice. The dates drift by about one day every 58 years, and astronomers calculate that around the year 6430, perihelion will coincide with the March equinox! So enjoy the current arrangement — it’s a temporary cosmic coincidence. ⏳

One of the crazy things about the extremes in Earth’s orbit around the Sun is the Sun’s apparent size in the sky. During perihelion the Sun is a little closer to us and at aphelion it is a little farther from us. So this means that the Sun’s apparent size in the sky changes very slightly, i.e. when it is closer (perihelion) it appears slightly larger and when it is farther (aphelion) it appears slightly smaller.

This is just perspective. These size differences are almost unnoticeable — the Sun appears about 3.4% smaller at aphelion than at perihelion. In fact, you really need a telescope to see this difference.

(NOTE: Do not forget – never look at the Sun with the unaided eye and especially never look at the magnified Sun with binoculars or telescopes unless you have the correct special filters!!)

The composite image below, taken with a special telescope, allows us to see this subtle size difference of the Sun between perihelion and aphelion. 

This composite neatly compares two pictures of the Sun taken with the same telescope and camera on the dates of Perihelion (closest approach) and Aphelion in 2008. The image labels include Earth’s distance in kilometers from the Sun on the two dates. (credit: NASA APOD/Enrique Luque Cervigón)

Aphelion Sunrise shared on Astronomy Picture of the Day, https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170705.html
Image Credit & Copyright: Stephen Mudge

☀️ 7% Less Sunshine? (Sort of!)

Because sunlight spreads out with distance, Earth receives about 7% less solar energy at aphelion than at perihelion in January. So why isn’t early July noticeably cooler? That 7% is a global average, softened by the oceans, the atmosphere, and the sheer thermal sluggishness of a planet that takes weeks to warm or cool. Astronomer Phil Plait estimates the actual global temperature effect at only around 5°C — small compared to the seasonal swings driven by Earth’s 23.5° tilt. Once again: tilt, not distance, rules the seasons!

📅 Why Northern Summer Is the Longest Season

Here’s an aphelion fun fact you can win bar bets with: summer in the Northern Hemisphere is nearly 5 days longer than winter! Why? Thanks to Kepler’s 2nd Law, Earth travels slowest at aphelion — and since aphelion falls in northern summer, our planet “dawdles” through this part of its orbit. The Southern Hemisphere gets the opposite deal: their summer coincides with speedy perihelion, making it their shortest season. Same tilt, same orbit — different season lengths, all because of a 3-million-mile stretch in our path around the Sun.

🌍 Why Aphelion Distances Don’t Always Match

If you’ve ever gone looking for the “exact” time or distance of Earth’s aphelion and found multiple answers, you’re not imagining things. Aphelion isn’t a solid wall in space that Earth slams into — it’s a calculated moment when Earth is farthest from the Sun in its elliptical orbit. That moment can differ slightly depending on how and when it’s measured.

Even the most trusted astronomy sources sometimes report slightly different values. You’ll find variations of 1–2 seconds in timing and up to 800 meters (about half a mile) in distance. Here’s why:

🔍 What’s Behind the Differences?

• Different ephemeris datasets: NASA’s JPL Horizons system uses high-precision models (like DE441), while some astronomy calendars use simplified methods like Meeus’ algorithms. Both are valid — but they won’t give exactly the same results.

• Center-of-mass vs. surface measurements: Are we measuring from Earth’s center to the Sun’s center? Or from surface to surface? These tiny changes can add or subtract kilometers.

• Rounding and formatting: Some sources round off the distance to the nearest mile or kilometer. Others format the time in local time zones, which adds another layer of apparent inconsistency.

• Media simplification: Outlets like EarthSky or Almanac often publish estimates that are friendly for general readers, while tools like JPL Horizons allow for millisecond precision.

• The orbit itself is always changing: Earth’s path is constantly nudged by the gravity of the Moon, Jupiter, and the other planets, so the moment of aphelion can shift by hours from year to year. It’s a cosmic dance, not a fixed schedule!

🧭 Compare for Yourself

Here’s a chart of reported aphelion values for July 6, 2026, showing how these tiny differences show up depending on the source:

🧠 Want to Go Deeper?

If you’re a space-data nerd (welcome to the club 🛰️), check out NASA’s JPL Horizons System. It lets you generate custom orbital data for Earth and other planets — down to the second and meter. Just be prepared to go down a fun and nerdy rabbit hole.

🌍 How Fast Is Earth Moving at Aphelion?

• 29,320 meters per second

• ≈ 65,560 mph

• ≈ 105,560 km/h

That’s ~18.6 miles per second — even at its slowest, Earth is really moving.

💡 Bonus Fun Fact:

At perihelion, Earth speeds up to around 30,290 m/s — nearly 970 m/s faster than at aphelion! That’s a difference of roughly 2,000 mph between our fastest and slowest orbital speeds.

This variation is a direct result of Kepler’s 2nd Law: planets sweep out equal areas in equal times, so they must go faster when closer to the Sun, and slower when farther away. So while it might be “slowing down” at aphelion, Earth is still moving nearly 19 miles per second. 🚀

💡 One More Fun Fact:

Even at aphelion — our maximum distance of 94.5 million miles — sunlight still takes only about 8 minutes and 27 seconds to reach us, roughly 14 seconds longer than at perihelion. When you feel the summer Sun on your face on July 6, that light left the Sun less than 8½ minutes earlier, then crossed the widest Earth–Sun gap of the entire year to get to you! ☀️➡️🌍

🔭 Bonus Skywatching: The Day After Aphelion

Want to celebrate aphelion under the stars? On the very next evening, July 7, 2026, the Moon pairs up with Saturn in a lovely conjunction — a nice naked-eye sight in the late-night sky. And later in the month, the moonless mornings in the week before the July 29 full Moon are perfect for catching the early Delta Aquariid meteors. The Sun may be at its farthest, but the night sky is bringing everything closer! ✨

So happy aphelion and your farthest distance from the Sun! 

via GIPHY

CREDITS: NASA JPL, NASA Space Place, EarthSky, TimeandDate.com, Farmers’ Almanac, NASA APOD, and image owners as credited above.