The Earth will be the farthest from the Sun on 4 July, which happens to coincide with the American Independence Day.
The Earth will be the farthest from the Sun at 12:00 am UTC , which is 7:00 am CDT on 3 July or 5:30 am IST on 4 July.
Though the distance is slightly farther than usual, it is temporary as the planet's orbit is nearly elliptical. The average distance of the Earth from the Sun is around 93 million miles (150 million km), reported Earthsky.com
The Earth's elliptical orbit suggests that each year, at some point of time, the planet will be closest to the Sun, called perihelion and, at some point, will be farthest as well, known as aphelion.
The word aphelion comes from Greek words apo - meaning away, off, apart etc - and helios, who is the Greek god of the Sun. The phenomenon was first explained in mathematical detail by Johannes Kepler, the 17th century German astronomer.
On an average, Earth is around three million miles or around three percent farther from the Sun at aphelion than at perihelion. As a result, the size of the Sun from Earth will be around three percent smaller. The difference may not be visible without a telescope.
At aphelion, the planet's exact distance from the Sun is 94,506,462 miles (152,093,481 km). On 5 July 2013, the Earth at aphelion was slightly farther away at 94,508,959 miles (152,097,427 km).
The Earth is always the farthest from the brightest star in early July during the summer of Northern Hemisphere, and closest in January during the winter of Northern Hemisphere. This also explains the fact that different seasons are not because of the Earth's distance from the Sun but rather due to the Earth's tilt from its axis. The Northern Hemisphere of the Earth is having summer because the northern part of Earth is tilted most towards the Sun.
Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere is snowing as the southern part of Earth is tilted most away from the Sun. But the tilt does influence the length of the seasons. As the Earth is traveling slowly in its orbit, it makes summer the longest season in the Northern part of the globe, while winter the longest season on the Southern.
