Leo smiled. “Exactly.”

Leo scrolled down. An animation showed Earth’s elliptical orbit—not a perfect circle, but a slight oval. The sun sat off-center. In early January, Earth reaches perihelion , its closest point: about 91.4 million miles away. In July, aphelion : nearly 94.5 million miles. A difference of three million miles—enough to affect the sun’s apparent size, but not enough to override the seasons.

The answer appeared in crisp text:

“Because of the tilt,” Leo said, finding a diagram. “In January, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun. Sunlight hits at a low angle, spread out, weak. July is hot because we’re tilted toward it—even though we’re farther away. Distance doesn’t win. Angle does.”