Close to the Sun

Earth snuggles closest to the Sun for the entire year during early January, less than two percent closer than the average distance of 93 million miles (150 million km). This image, from an orbiting satellite, shows "hot spots" on the Sun's surface plus arcs of hot gas looping far into space. The image was taken in a narrow range of light that isn't visible to the human eye. [SOHO/EIT Consortium/ESA/NASA]