Solstices, equinoxes, perihelion and aphelion

 This diagram shows the relation between the line of solstice and the line of apsides of Earth’s elliptical orbit. The orbital ellipse (with eccentricity exaggerated for effect) goes through each of the six Earth images, which are sequentially the perihelion (periapsis—nearest point to the sun) on anywhere from 2 January to 5 January, the point of March equinox on 20 or 21 March, the point of June solstice on 20 or 21 June, the aphelion (apoapsis—farthest point from the sun) on anywhere from 4 July to 7 July, the September equinox on 22 or 23 September, and the December solstice on 21 or 22 December. credit: http://bit.ly/1pQn7wy

 

Earth reached its farthest point from the sun July 6 at 3:41 p.m. EDT or July 6 at 19:41 in Universal Time (UT). This is called aphelion.

The distance from the Sun’s center to Earth’s center will be 152,093,481 kilometers or 94,506,507 miles.

The point of farthest approach is called aphelion. These terms are specific to a body orbiting the sun. For satellites of Earth (including the moon), the points of farthest and closest approach are called apogee and perigee, respectively. The generic terms for farthest and closest approach of a body in an elliptic orbit about a larger body are apoapsis and periapsis, respectively.
The diagram below shows the times and positions of the Earth during the solstices, equinoxes, perihelion and aphelion as it orbits the sun over a year.