An illustration of perihelion and aphelion in the Earth's orbit around the sun, as well as the moon's apogee and perigee in its orbit around planet Earth.  (Image credit: NASA)

Today is Perihelion Day!  We are at our closest approach to the sun… checkout all the details over on Space.com.  Unfortunately, we are still in Winter, but the days have been getting longer since the Winter Solstice.  It won't be long before spring is here and we'll all be out collecting fossils again!

At the time of perihelion, Earth is about 91,398,199 miles (147,091,144 kilometers) away from the sun. On average, Earth's distance from the sun is 92,955,807 miles (149,597,870 km). When our planet reaches aphelion in July, it will be 94,507,635 miles (152,095,295 km) away. 

Earth doesn't feel warmer for the Northern Hemisphere when perihelion occurs. That's because the ellipse in which our planet orbits is not extreme, but almost circular. The cause of seasonal changes is the tilt in the planet's axis. Perihelion and aphelion don't cause the seasons, but they do affect the length of the seasons.