JEDDAH: Planet Earth will reach its furthest point from the sun — its aphelion — on Monday, July 5 at 1:27 a.m. KSA time. Earth’s aphelion comes in early July, two weeks after the summer solstice, when it will be 94,510,866 miles from the sun, compared to 94,507,635 miles last year. Our planet orbits the sun in an oval shape called an ellipse, said the head of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, Majed Abu Zahira. The distance between planet earth and the sun does not change that much throughout the year: Earth’s average distance from the sun is 93 million miles. Earth’s tilt on its axis is the cause behind the seasonal changes. Slight changes in the tilt affect the seasons’ length and the amount of solar radiation on the earth’s surface.