The Earth's orbit around the Sun is not circular but elliptical. The point in this elliptical orbit where the Earth is closest to the Sun is called perihelion. In 2025, perihelion was on Jan. 4.
At this time, the distance between the Earth and the Sun is about 147 million kilometers. On July 3, 2024, at aphelion (the point where the distance between the celestial body and the Sun is greatest), the Earth was about 152 million kilometers away from the Sun.
The Earth's seasons are not determined by its distance from the Sun. The fact that the December solstice and the Earth's perihelion differ by only 14 days is merely a coincidence. It is also coincidental that the date of the Earth’s perihelion is just 11 days away from the day when the Parker Solar Probe, a solar exploration spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), came closest to the Sun. Launched in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe approached within just 6.2 million kilometers of the Sun's surface on Dec. 24, 2024.