Before looking at the long-term drift, it is important to understand that Earth’s distance from the sun is never constant. Because our orbit is an rather than a perfect circle, we experience two extremes every year:
So, is the Earth moving closer to the Sun? The answer is no, not in the sense that its orbit is gradually decreasing over time. However, the Earth's orbit does change over a period of about 100,000 years due to the gravitational pull of the other planets in our solar system. This process is known as a secular change. is earth moving closer to the sun
| Effect | Impact on Earth-Sun distance | |--------|-------------------------------| | (via fusion & solar wind) | Weakens Sun’s gravity → Earth spirals outward ~1.5 cm/year | | Tidal interactions (Sun’s gravity on Earth) | Very small effect, also pushes Earth outward | | Gravitational perturbations (other planets, especially Jupiter) | Cyclic variations of ~±3–5% over 100k-year cycles, but no net inward drift | Before looking at the long-term drift, it is