What is aphelion? Earth reaches its farthest point from the sun on Monday

While Northern Hemisphere residents endure the July heat and Southern Hemisphere residents experience the dead of winter, the entire planet is at its farthest point from the sun today. 

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On Monday, July 6, the Earth officially reaches its yearly milestone known as aphelion. 

According to EarthSky, our planet will be exactly 94,502,961 miles from the sun at 12:30 p.m. CDT. 

Despite the timing, Earth’s distance from the sun does not determine the seasons, as recent heat waves across Europe and the eastern United States have shown.

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So why is it that the Northern Hemisphere still sizzles during summer when the sun and Earth are farthest away, versus winter when it's the closest?

If distance was the determining factor, the entire planet would be locked in winter during July, while both hemispheres would bake in a global summer during January. Instead, the opposite happens: the hemispheres experience completely opposite seasons.

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According to EarthSky, Earth’s orbit is "almost, but not quite, circular," meaning its distance from the sun changes only slightly — "a little over 3%."

It's the Earth's tilt on its axis that produces the seasons.

Right now it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere because the northern part of Earth is tilted toward the sun. Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away, EarthSky said.