On January 3, 2026, the sun will appear larger in the sky than on any other day of the year. This is because the Earth will be at its closest point to the sun, an event astronomers call perihelion.
The Earth orbits the sun at an average distance of 93 million miles (150 million km), which is known as 1 astronomical unit (AU). But the Earth’s orbit isn’t a perfect circle — it’s more like an oval, so the distance between Earth and the sun changes by about 3% throughout the year.
In 2026, the perihelion will happen at 12:15 p.m. EST (1715 GMT) on January 3. At that time, Earth will be about 91.5 million miles (147.25 million km) from the sun, making it closer than at any other time in the year.