The Earth approaches aphelion.

The Earth will reach its aphelion, the furthest point in its orbit from the Sun, a distance of 1.017 AU (1.017 times the average distance between the Earth and the Sun) or 152 141 035 km, at 5.30 pm GMT on Monday 6 July 2026. The Earth's orbit is slightly eccentric and slightly variable, leading to the distance between the Earth and the Sun varying by about 3.4% over time, reaching aphelion early in July each year and perihelion (the closest point on its orbit to the Sun) early in January. The exact distance at aphelion and perihelion each year varies, with this year's aphelion being slightly further from the Sun than last year (2025), when the Earth reached 152 087 733 km from the Sun on Thursday 3 July, or next year, when it will only reach a distance of 152 100 479 km on Tuesday 6 July.

The difference between the Earth's perihelion (closest point to the Sun) and aphelion (furthest point from the Sun). Time and Date.

This is counter intuitive to inhabitants of the Earth's Northern Hemisphere, who often assume that the Earth is closest to the Sun in midsummer, when in fact it is at its furthest away. This is because the tilt of the Earth plays a far greater role in our seasons than the distance from the Sun, and the Northern Hemisphere has just passed its Summer Solstice, i.e. the point at which the North Pole was pointing as close to the Sun as it ever gets, so that the Northern Hemisphere is currently getting much more sunlight than the Southern. The Earth's surface receives about 7% less sunlight at aphelion to at perihelion, but this is far less than the seasonal variation caused by the tilt of the Earth (23% in each hemisphere).

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The Northern Solstice.

The Northern Solstice will fall on Sunday 21 June this year (2026), the day on which the Sun rises highest in the sky and the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere (where it is the Summer Solstice) and the day on which the Sun rises lowest in the sky and the shortest day in the Southern Hemisphere (where it is the Winter Solstice). Up until this date the days have been growing shorter in the Northern Hemisphere and longer in the Southern Hemisphere since the Southern Solstice in December last year (which is the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere), but after it the situation will be reversed, with days growing steadily longer in the Northern Hemisphere and shorter in the Southern Hemisphere until the next Southern Solstice in December. 

The solstices are entirely a product of variation in the Earth's rotation on its axis, which is at an angle of 23.5° to the plain of the Earth's orbit about the Sun. This means that in December the Earth's Southern Pole is tilted towards the Sun, while the Northern Pole is tilted away from it. This means that around the Southern Solstice the Southern Hemisphere is receiving radiation from the Sun over a longer part of the than the Northern, and at a steeper angle (so that it to pass through less atmosphere to reach the planet), creating the southern summer and northern winter.

The tilt of the Earth at the Northern Solstice. Wikimedia Commons.

The solstices are fairly noticeable astronomical events, and tied to the seasons which govern the life cycles of life on Earth, and they have been celebrated under different names by cultures across the globe, but most notably by those at higher latitudes, who are more profoundly affected by the changes of the seasons.

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Total Lunar Eclipse to be visible from East Asia, East Australia, Oceania, the Pacific Ocean, and western North America.

A total Lunar Eclipse will occur on Wednesday 3 March 2026, starting at 8.45 am GMT. It will be visible across the eastern parts of Asia, Australia, and Indonesia, as well as the rest of Oceania and the Pacific Ocean, the western part of North America, and parts of Antarctica. In Southeast, South, and Central Asia, western Australia and Indonesia, and much of North, Central, and South America, Greenland, and the Caribbean, part of the eclipse will be visible, although in these areas the Moon will either rise part way through the eclipse, or set before it is complete in these areas.

Areas from which the 3 March 2026 Lunar Eclipse will be visible. Dominic Ford/In the Sky.

The Moon produces no light of its own, but 'shines' with reflected light from the Sun. Thus at Full Moon the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun, and its illuminated side is turned towards us, but at New Moon the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, so that its illuminated side is turned away from us.

How the phases of the Moon are caused by the relative positions of the Earth, Sun and Moon. Karl Tate/Space.com.

Lunar eclipses occur when the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow. This can only happen at Full Moon (unlike Solar Eclipses, which happen only when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sum, and therefore only occur at New Moon), but does not happen every Lunar Month as the Sun, Moon and Earth are not in a perfect, unwavering line, but rather both the Earth and the Moon wobble slightly as they orbit their parent bodies, rising above and sinking bellow the plane of the ecliptic (the plane upon which they would all be in line every month). 

The phases of the 3 March 2026 Lunar Eclipse. Leah Tiscione/Sky & Telescope.

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Annular eclipse to be visible from parts of Antarctica.

An annular eclipse of the Sun (eclipse in which the Moon passes in front of the Sun, but does not completely block it, leaving visible ring of light) will be visible from parts of Antarctica on Tuesday 17 February 2026, with a partial eclipse visible from Tierra del Fuego, parts of Southern and East Africa, Madagascar. and the islands of the southwest Indian Ocean.

The Moon's shadow projected onto the Earth as the eclipse proceeds. The hemisphere of the Earth facing the Sun is shown. Contours show where various fractions of the Sun's disk is covered. Dominic Ford/In the Sky.

Eclipses are a product of the way the Earth, Moon and Sun move about one-another. The Moon orbits the Earth every 28 days, while the Earth orbits the Sun every 365 days, and because the two Sun and Moon appear roughly the same size when seen from Earth, it is quite possible for the Moon to block out the light of the Sun. At first sight this would seem likely to happen every month at the New Moon, when the Moon is on the same side of the Earth as the Sun, and therefore invisible (the Moon produced no light of its own, when we see the Moon we are seeing reflected sunlight, but this can only happen when we can see parts of the Moon illuminated by the Sun). 

The relative positions of the Sun, Moon and Earth during a Solar eclipse. Not to scale. Starry Night.

An Annular Eclipse is a type of Solar Eclipse, in which the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun while the moon is close to aphelion (when it is furthest from the Earth). The Moon has a variable orbit, getting considerably closer and further from the Earth at different times, which alters its size as seen from the Earth. Thus, when it is at its furthest from the Earth it appears considerably smaller than the Sun so an eclipse occurring at this time will produce a ring of sunlight, rather than a period of darkness. A Partial Annular Eclipse resembles a regular Partial Eclipse, in that the light of the Sun will be partially blocked by the Moon passing in from of it, though the disk of the Moon will be smaller.

An annular eclipse observed from Southern Utah on 28 October 2018. Wikimedia Commons.

However, the Moon does not orbit in quite the same plane as the Earth orbits the Sun, so the Eclipses only occur when the two orbital planes cross one-another; this typically happens two or three times a year, and always at the New Moon. During Total Eclipses the Moon entirely blocks the light of the Sun, however most Eclipses are Partial, the Moon only partially blocks the light of the Sun.

How the differing inclinations of the Earth and Moon's orbits prevent us having an eclipse every 28 days. Starry Skies.

Although the light of the Sun is reduced during an Eclipse, it is still extremely dangerous to look directly at the Sun, and eclipses should only be viewed with specialised equipment.

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The Earth approaches perihelion.

On Saturday 3 January 2025, at 5.15 pm, GMT, the Earth will reach its perihelion; the closest point on its orbit to the Sun, when it will be 147 099 894 km from the Sun. This is because the Earth's orbit is not a perfect circle, but varies by 3.3% over the course of a year. This perihelion distance varies each year; in 2025 the Earth reached 147 103 686 km from the Sun on 4 January and in 2027 it will reach 147 104 592 km from the Sun on 3 January.

The Earth's Aphelion and Perihelion. My Dark Sky.

This means that the Earth is at its closest to the Sun in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere's winter, counter-intuitive to most of the planet's population. This is, however, purely coincidental; the Earth's seasons are not caused by its distance from the Sun, which only varies by 3.3%, but rather by the tilt of the planet. The Earth is currently tilted at an angle of 25.5° to its plane of orbit (this varies on a timescale of tens of thousands of years, but remains fixed from the point of view of any human observer), causing the Sun to appear to rise higher and lower in the skies of each hemisphere as the year goes by. 

In the northern winter the Southern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, so that the days are longer there (and in around the Southern Solstice in December, permanently above the horizon at the South Pole). In addition, the Sun being directly overhead means that the energy from the Sun has to pass through less of the atmosphere before it reaches the surface of the Earth, so that less energy is lost to the atmosphere, causing greater surface warming in the hemisphere pointed towards the Sun.

How the tilt of the Earth relative to its plane of orbit causes the seasons. ESA.

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