Earth reaches its closest point to the sun — just in time to be slammed by a solar storm

On Jan. 4, Earth reached its closest point to the sun all year in an annual event called perihelion. The precise distance varies from year to year, but perihelion 2023 will see our planet orbiting 91.4 million miles (147 million kilometers) from the sun — or roughly 3 million miles (4.8 million km) closer than Earth's aphelion, its farthest point from the sun, which will occur on July 6.

Earth reaches its closest point to the sun — just in time to be slammed by a solar storm