The term "perihelion" describes the point in an astronomical body's orbit where it is nearest to the sun. Derived from the Greek words peri (around) and helios (sun), the word reflects its meaning. In ...

Summer this year in the Northern Hemisphere summer will be shorter — by exactly 15 minutes — than it was in 2024 because, according to Timeanddate.com, of the ever-changing shape of Earth’s orbit ...

Here's how the astronomical phenomenon influences our planet—from the length of our seasons to the way Earth moves through space.

Despite the winter solstice being the shortest day, the sun has been rising later in the weeks following it. This phenomenon is due to the Earth's elliptical orbit and axial tilt, which causes a ...

Each year, Earth reaches its closest point to the sun in early January, a moment called perihelion. In 2026, this occurred on ...

How does a planet’s size influence its orbit around its parent star? This is what a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences hopes to address as a team of ...