This is the name of the point in the Earth's orbit at which our planet is located farthest from the Sun. And it occurs because, in its displacement around the star, the Earth does not trace a perfect circular but elliptical path. The aphelion is reached in early July , in contrast to the perihelion or point of the Earth's orbit closest to the Sun, which takes place in January. The difference in distance between aphelion and perihelion is approximately five million kilometers, about 13 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
During the aphelion, our planet and the Sun are located at a distance of approximately 1,017 astronomical units , which implies that they are separated by just over 152 million kilometers. Although the Earth rotates at an average speed of 29.8 km / s, during aphelion it becomes somewhat slower and is moving at 28.76 km / s .
