How to Use perihelion in a Sentence

perihelion

noun
  • The closest a comet gets to the Sun is called its perihelion.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes, 24 June 2021
  • There’s a lot less landmass, which negates the impact of perihelion.
    — Jamie Carter, Forbes, 4 Jan. 2025
  • But at perihelion, the comet appeared only half that distance away from the sun.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 27 Jan. 2025
  • The videos were captured during the probe’s first close perihelion passages.
    — Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 20 May 2022
  • Hundreds or even thousands of meteors an hour occur when the comet's peak aligns with the comet's perihelion.
    — Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE.com, 6 Oct. 2021
  • This last one governs when Earth reaches perihelion — closest point to the sun — in its orbit.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 15 Jan. 2026
  • According to Cooke, the comet has passed perihelion, or an orbit’s closest point to the sun.
    — Saleen Martin, USA TODAY, 13 Jan. 2025
  • The spacecraft's first perihelion -- the point in the orbit closest to the sun -- was about half the distance between the sun and Earth.
    — Amy Woodyatt, CNN, 15 June 2020
  • When Earth is closest to the sun (called perihelion), its orbital rate is faster than average, so the true sun lags behind the mean sun.
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 5 June 2025
  • The star’s closest point to the black hole, known as perihelion, advances around in a circle by about a fifth of a degree — 12 arc minutes.
    — Dennis Overbye, New York Times, 16 Apr. 2020
  • In the days following its perihelion, people around the world snapped some stunning pictures of the comet and its spectacular tail.
    — Gordon G. Chang, Newsweek, 24 Jan. 2025
  • The comet will reach perihelion, its closest point to the sun in its orbit, on April 4, per Sky & Telescope.
    — Jenna Prestininzi, Freep.com, 13 Feb. 2026
  • The shower reaches its perihelion – closest approach to the sun – every 33 years.
    — Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 16 Nov. 2023
  • The wandering comet put on an impressive show in the weeks leading up to its brush with the sun during perihelion on April 19.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Jewitt thinks that outgassing from the surface of the comet, which heated up during its perihelion passage that brings it about as close to the sun as Earth, is the cause.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 26 Mar. 2026
  • This activity makes the comet brighter and hence more noticeable, and at perihelion this outgassing, in theory, is at its most active.
    — Keith Cooper, Space.com, 29 Oct. 2025
  • For a storm to happen, Earth has to pass through a dense part of the comet’s debris during perihelion, but sometimes our planet only skims the outskirts.
    — Gina Park, CNN Money, 16 Nov. 2025
  • Indeed, many such comets have escaped detection on their way toward the sun until only some days or at most several weeks before perihelion.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 7 Apr. 2026
  • When a comet reaches perihelion, the Sun’s heat causes different ices to sublimate into gas.
    — Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 27 Oct. 2025
  • At aphelion, water has an abundance of less than one part per million in Mars’s skies, compared to more than 50 parts per million at perihelion.
    — Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 6 Sep. 2024
  • In fact, the comet’s perihelion, or its closest proximity to the Sun in its orbit, is three times closer than Mercury’s.
    — Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 11 Jan. 2025
  • Jupiter is also currently moving away from the sun on its own elliptical path, while, less than a week ago, Earth passed its closest point to the sun (perihelion).
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 7 Jan. 2026
  • The minimum distance occurs when the Earth passes Mars at a time when the planet is at the point in its orbit nearest the sun (perihelion).
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 10 Jan. 2025
  • The comet is only visible from the southern hemisphere following its perihelion passage.
    — Anthony Wood, Space.com, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Its last closest approach to the sun occurred in the same year it was discovered, and it is expected to reach its next perihelion around the year 2283.
    — George Dvorsky / Gizmodo, Quartz, 16 Apr. 2024
  • It's forecast to reach its perihelion on April 21 and its closest approach to Earth will occur on June 2.
    — The Arizona Republic, 27 Mar. 2024
  • The closest of these run-ins occurs when Earth reaches aphelion, or its farthest point from the sun, and when Mars reaches perihelion, its closest point to the sun.
    — Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 5 Oct. 2020
  • That closest approach to the sun, a moment known as perihelion, is slated to happen Sunday, April 19.
    — Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
  • The comet will arrive at perihelion, the closest point to the sun in its orbit, on April 4, Sky & Telescope reported.
    — Jenna Prestininzi, Freep.com, 13 Feb. 2026
  • During a roughly four-hour timespan centered on the time of perihelion, the comet will appear to pass behind the sun as seen from our earthly perspective, then rapidly swing around and cross in front of the sun.
    — Joe Rao, Space.com, 10 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'perihelion.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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