The Earth will reach perigee on Saturday, which is the closest distance in its orbit around the sun at (01:51 PM GMT), coinciding with the winter season in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Astronomical Society in Jeddah revealed in a report that the Earth will be at a distance of 147,093,162 million kilometers closer by about 5 million kilometers to the sun (the distance between the center of the earth and the center of the sun) compared to what it will be six months from now when it reaches the apogee – the farthest distance from the sun – in July 5th is at a distance of 152,100,533 km from the sun.
It can be seen that the distance difference is not large between the perihelion in January and the apogee in July, because the Earth’s orbit around the sun is almost circular, so the distance that separates us from the sun is not responsible for the occurrence of the four seasons, but the tilt of the Earth’s rotation axis around itself is the reason.
During the winter season, the Arctic is tilted away from the sun, while during the summer it is tilted towards the sun, and although the approach and distance of the earth is not responsible for the occurrence of the seasons, this affects the length of those seasons.
When the Earth is near the sun as it is now, it moves faster in its orbit, as it rushes at a speed of approximately 30.3 kilometers per second, faster compared to its speed in early July, and therefore the winter season in the northern hemisphere is the shortest of the four seasons.
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