Every January, Earth reaches its closest point to the Sun, known as perihelion. Yet, it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere. This may seem odd: why is it colder when we’re supposedly closer to the Sun ...

Every year in early January, Earth reaches the closest point in its orbit to the Sun, a moment astronomers call perihelion. We are slightly nearer to our star and receiving more solar energy than we ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky. Earth is today at aphelion, the point in its orbit at which ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

Earth experiences different seasons due to its 23.5-degree axial tilt and its orbit around the Sun. This tilt changes how sunlight reaches different regions throughout the year, leading to summer, ...