Earth at aphelion in 2026
When it occurs: Earth will reach aphelion—the farthest point from the sun in its elliptical orbit—on July 6, 2026, at 17:31 UTC (1:31 p.m. EDT).
Meaning: The word aphelion comes from Ancient Greek, where apo means “away from” and helios refers to the sun, or more specifically, the sun god in Greek mythology.
Aphelion distance: At aphelion on July 6, 2026, Earth will be 1.0166440 AU (about 152.1 million km) from the sun, roughly 5 million km farther than at perihelion in early January. By comparison, Earth’s average distance from the sun is 1 AU (about 149.6 million km).
Effect on season: Earth reaches aphelion every year in early July, only about two weeks after the June solstice, during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer and the Southern Hemisphere’s winter.
The seasons are driven by Earth’s axial tilt, not by its distance from the sun. If the seasons were controlled by Earth’s distance from the sun, then early July would be winter across Earth. However, that is not the case.
In early July, it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere because the northern half of the globe is tilted toward the sun and receives the most direct sunlight. Meanwhile, it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere because the southern half of the globe is tilted away from the sun and receives the most indirect sunlight.
Effect on season length: Although Earth’s aphelion is not responsible for the seasons, it does affect their length.
According to Kepler’s second law of planetary motion, planets travel more slowly when they are farther from the sun. Therefore, every year in early July, when Earth reaches aphelion, it travels more slowly than at any other time of the year.
Because aphelion occurs during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, that season is almost five days longer than the Northern Hemisphere’s winter, when Earth travels faster in its orbit.
Effect on the sun’s apparent size: As our distance from the sun varies by about 3.4% (about 5 million km) over the course of a year, the sun appears about 3.4% smaller in the sky at aphelion than at perihelion. However, this difference is too small to detect with the naked eye.
Earth at Aphelion 2026–2036
Here are the dates, times, and Earth–Sun distances at aphelion from 2026 to 2036:
| Date and time of aphelion | Distance from the sun |
|---|---|
| July 6, 2026, at 17:31 UTC | 1.0166440 AU |
| July 5, 2027, at 05:06 UTC | 1.0167289 AU |
| July 3, 2028, at 22:18 UTC | 1.0166798 AU |
| July 6, 2029, at 05:12 UTC | 1.0167127 AU |
| July 4, 2030, at 12:58 UTC | 1.0167227 AU |
| July 6, 2031, at 07:10 UTC | 1.0166882 AU |
| July 5, 2032, at 11:54 UTC | 1.0167510 AU |
| July 3, 2033, at 20:52 UTC | 1.0166936 AU |
| July 6, 2034, at 18:49 UTC | 1.0166703 AU |
| July 5, 2035, at 18:22 UTC | 1.0167406 AU |
| July 3, 2036, at 21:17 UTC | 1.0166633 AU |
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