Earth is closest to the Sun during a point in its orbit called .

So, despite winter in the Northern Hemisphere, Earth is actually closest to the Sun in early January. The seasons are caused by the tilt of Earth’s axis, not by its distance from the Sun.

At perihelion, Earth is about (91.4 million miles) from the Sun, which is roughly 3 million kilometers (1.8 million miles) closer than at aphelion (farthest point in early July).

This typically occurs each year.