Sun to be at the farthest from Earth

THIS year Aphelion, the point in Earths elliptical orbit when it is farthest from the Sun, occurs tomorrow, July 4th. Of course, that doesnt affect the seasons on our fair planet. Those are determined by the tilt of Earths axis of rotation and not Earths distance from the Sun, so July is still winter in the south and summer in northern hemisphere.But it does mean that on July 4th the Sun will be at its smallest apparent size. This composite neatly compares two pictures of the Sun taken with the same telescope and camera on the dates of Perihelion (closest approach) and Aphelion in 2008. The image labels include Earths distance in kilometers from the Sun on the two dates. Otherwise difficult to notice, the change in the Suns apparent diameter between Perihelion and Aphelion is clear. The difference amounts to a little over 3 percent. - Space Fellowship