Our planet Earth will reach Aphelion point (outermost point) in its orbit around the sun tomorrow at 11pm; where it will be at 152 million Km from the sun's centre, according to Astronomy expert at Qatar Calendar house Dr Beshir Marzouk. In January 2016, the Earth reached 147 million km from the sun's centre.
Earth arrives to aphelion one time per year during July, while it arrives to perihelion (nearest point) one time also per year during January. Earth was at perihelion on January 4, 2017 and will be at perihelion on January 3, 2018, added Dr Marzouk.
"The Earth's varying distance from the sun does affect the length of the four astronomical seasons; where it is the reason for varying length of these seasons; that’s because, at our farthest from the sun, same now, Earth is traveling most slowly in its orbit. That makes summer the longest season in the Northern Hemisphere and winter the longest season on the southern half of the globe," Dr Marzouk said.
