Live · Sun

How far is the Sun from the Earth right now?

How far the Sun is from the Earth right now is the live centre-to-centre distance below. NASA’s Sun Fact Sheet puts that gap between 147.1 million km at perihelion and 152.1 million km at aphelion, and this page shows the current distance in kilometres, miles, astronomical units and light travel time.

See the Sun in 3DAll distances

Computing the distance from your device’s clock…

Why the distance changes

Earth’s orbit is an ellipse, so the Sun is not a fixed distance away. NASA’s Sun Fact Sheet lists a minimum of 147.1 million km and a maximum of 152.1 million km. The near point, perihelion, falls in early January. The far point, aphelion, falls in early July. That is only about a 3% swing.

The live number uses the same in-browser model as the distance table: JPL’s approximate Keplerian elements for 3000 BC–3000 AD. Earth in that table is the Earth–Moon barycentre, about 4,670 km from Earth’s centre. JPL’s nominal distance error for this fit is about 15,000 km, small beside the 5 million km seasonal change. Light travel time is the distance divided by 299,792.458 km/s, and it stays near 8.3 minutes. The position itself is not shifted by that delay.

Other distances

Back to every body on the distance table. The same clock also fills these pages:

• Sun
• Moon
• Mercury
• Venus
• Mars
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Uranus
• Neptune
• Pluto

Frequently asked questions

How far is the Sun from the Earth right now?

How far the Sun is from the Earth right now is the centre-to-centre figure at the top, in kilometres, miles, astronomical units and light travel time. Across the year NASA lists 147.1 million km to 152.1 million km. The figure is computed in your browser from JPL’s approximate Keplerian elements for 3000 BC–3000 AD. Earth in that table is the Earth–Moon barycentre, about 4,670 km from Earth’s centre.

What is the closest and farthest the Sun gets?

NASA’s Sun Fact Sheet lists a minimum of 147.1 million km and a maximum of 152.1 million km. The minimum is perihelion, in early January. The maximum is aphelion, in early July.

How long does sunlight take to reach Earth?

Light travel time is the current distance divided by 299,792.458 km/s. Across the year it stays near 8.3 minutes: about 8.2 minutes at perihelion and about 8.5 minutes at aphelion. The position on this page is not shifted by that delay.

Does the changing distance cause the seasons?

No. A 3% change is too small to make the seasons. Seasons come from Earth’s axial tilt. Earth does move faster near perihelion, so the southern summer, which falls near January, is slightly shorter than the northern summer.

Sources: JPL Approximate Positions of the Planets (Standish and Williams; elements for 3000 BC–3000 AD) · NASA Sun Fact Sheet for the 147.1 and 152.1 million km range.