Perihelion is the point at which the Earth is closest to the Sun. Aphelion is the point at which the Earth is farthest from the Sun. (For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, this may seem backwards.) In the table below, the date of the event is given first, followed by the time of the event. All times are posted in universal time. Please use the information below to translate the time to your locale.
| 2008 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 3 00 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 05 48 | Sept 22 15 44 |
| Aphelion | July 4 08 | Solstices | June 20 23 59 | Dec 21 12 04 |
| 2009 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 4 15 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 11 44 | Sept 22 21 18 |
| Aphelion | July 4 02 | Solstices | June 21 05 45 | Dec 21 17 47 |
| 2010 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 3 00 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 17 32 | Sept 23 03 09 |
| Aphelion | July 6 11 | Solstices | June 21 11 28 | Dec 21 23 38 |
| 2011 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 3 19 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 23 21 | Sept 23 09 04 |
| Aphelion | July 4 15 | Solstices | June 21 17 16 | Dec 22 05 30 |
| 2012 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 5 00 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 05 14 | Sept 22 14 49 |
| Aphelion | July 5 03 | Solstices | June 20 23 09 | Dec 21 11 11 |
| 2013 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 2 05 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 11 02 | Sept 22 20 44 |
| Aphelion | July 5 15 | Solstices | June 21 05 04 | Dec 21 17 11 |
| 2014 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 4 12 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 16 57 | Sept 23 02 29 |
| Aphelion | July 4 00 | Solstices | June 21 10 51 | Dec 21 23 03 |
| 2015 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 4 07 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 22 45 | Sept 23 08 20 |
| Aphelion | July 6 19 | Solstices | June 21 16 38 | Dec 22 04 48 |
| 2016 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 2 23 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 04 30 | Sept 22 14 21 |
| Aphelion | July 4 16 | Solstices | June 20 22 34 | Dec 21 10 44 |
| 2017 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 4 14 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 10 28 | Sept 22 20 02 |
| Aphelion | July 3 20 | Solstices | June 21 04 24 | Dec 21 16 28 |
| 2018 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 3 06 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 16 15 | Sept 23 01 54 |
| Aphelion | July 6 17 | Solstices | June 21 10 07 | Dec 21 22 22 |
| 2019 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 3 05 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 21 58 | Sept 23 07 50 |
| Aphelion | July 4 22 | Solstices | June 21 15 54 | Dec 22 04 19 |
| 2020 | ||||
| Perihelion | Jan 5 08 | Equinoxes | Mar 20 03 49 | Sept 22 13 30 |
| Aphelion | July 4 12 | Solstices | June 20 21 43 | Dec 21 10 02 |
What Are the U.S. Time Zones?
Standard time in the U.S. and its territories is observed within nine time
zones. Standard time within each time zone is an integral number of hours offset
from a time scale called Universal Time, Coordinated (abbreviated UTC),
maintained by a large number of very precise "atomic clocks" at laboratories
around the world, including the U.S. Naval Observatory.
To obtain U.S. civil time from UTC, use the following table.
To obtain Atlantic Daylight Time subtract 3 hours from UTC
Atlantic Standard Time subtract 4 hours from UTC
Eastern Daylight Time subtract 4 hours from UTC
Eastern Standard Time subtract 5 hours from UTC
Central Daylight Time subtract 5 hours from UTC
Central Standard Time subtract 6 hours from UTC
Mountain Daylight Time subtract 6 hours from UTC
Mountain Standard Time subtract 7 hours from UTC
Pacific Daylight Time subtract 7 hours from UTC
Pacific Standard Time subtract 8 hours from UTC
Alaska Daylight Time subtract 8 hours from UTC
Alaska Standard Time subtract 9 hours from UTC
Hawaii-Aleutian Daylight Time subtract 9 hours from UTC
Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time subtract 10 hours from UTC
Samoa Standard Time subtract 11 hours from UTC
Chamorro Standard Time add 10 hours to UTC
Thus, 11:00 UTC is the same as 5:00 CST. When converting zone time to or from
UTC, dates must be properly taken into account. For example, 10 March at 02:00
UTC is the same as 9 March at 21:00 EST. The table can also be used to determine
the difference between the time observed in any two zones. For example, the
table shows that Eastern Standard Time is three hours "ahead" of Pacific
Standard Time.
Time zones in the U.S. are defined in the U.S. Code, Title 15, Chapter 6,
Subchapter IX - Standard Time. The Department of Transportation is responsible
for time zone boundaries.
See also the world time zone map.
For more information on time, time scales, and accurate clocks, see the U.S.
Naval Observatory Time Service Department pages. Related information can be
found on the pages of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).