Contrary to what many people think, the sun is actually closer to earth during a northern hemisphere winter. earth’s orbit is an elliptical—or slightly oval—path around the sun. in early january, earth reaches its closest point to the sun, called the perihelion. at this time, earth is about 147 million kilometers from the sun. the farthest point on earth’s orbit of the sun is called the aphelion. at this time, earth is about 152 million kilometers from the sun