Perihelion, Closest Point To The Sun, And Fastest Orbital Speed [Today]
Wednesday, January 2, 2024, is the day that Earth will be closest to the Sun, which is called perihelion. This coincides with the planet's fastest orbital speed, reaching 30.3 kilometers per second, according to the American website EarthSky.
On this date, Earth will be about 3% closer to the Sun, just over 147 million kilometers, or about five million kilometers less than at aphelion, when the distance is greatest, in early July. The average distance is about 150 million kilometers.
Earth follows an elliptical orbit of 930 million kilometers, and the orbital speed is slower at greater distances from the Sun and faster when the distance is smaller.
Thus, the current speed is about one kilometer per second faster than when the planet is further away from the central star of the solar system, EarthSky reports.

EarthSky | Updates on your cosmos and world
Earth at perihelion – closest to sun – on January 3