Description:
The correct answer is:
✅ Early January
Why?
Earth’s orbit is elliptical, not perfectly circular.
Closest Point (Perihelion): ~January 3 (about 91.4 million miles from the Sun).
Farthest Point (Aphelion): ~July 4 (~94.5 million miles away).
Counterintuitive but True:
Northern Hemisphere winter happens when Earth is closest to the Sun (but tilt matters more than distance).
Southern Hemisphere gets more direct summer sunlight in January due to this proximity.
Fun Fact: Earth moves fastest in its orbit during perihelion (Kepler’s laws)! 🌍🚀
(Data source: NASA/JPL)