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How to Explore Earth Perihelion & Aphelion 3D Explorer

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Open the Earth Perihelion & Aphelion 3D Explorer, scrub the day-of-year slider or press Play year, and read the real Sun-Earth distance as it rises and falls across the year.

  1. Open https://freetoolonline.com/space-3d/earth-perihelion-aphelion.html and wait for the Sun and Earth to render.
  2. Press "Jump to perihelion" to snap to early January, when Earth is about 147.1 million km from the Sun - its closest point.
  3. Press "Jump to aphelion" to snap to early July, when Earth is about 152.1 million km away - its farthest point.
  4. Scrub the day-of-year slider slowly and watch the distance curve below the scene trace the swing between the two.
  5. Press "Play year" to run one full year automatically.
  6. Read the facts panel for the live distance, the published figures, and why this swing does not cause the seasons.

Key published figures

FigureValue
Mean distance (1 AU)149,597,870 km
Perihelion (early Jan)about 147.1 million km
Aphelion (early Jul)about 152.1 million km
Eccentricity0.0167

Next: the when guide or vs alternatives. Open the Earth Perihelion & Aphelion 3D Explorer.

Reviewed by the Free Tool Online editorial team · Tested in the current versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge before publishing. No account is needed to use any tool. Report a bug - we triage within 72 hours. · Last refreshed April 2026.

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