January 2 was the day in 2013 when earth passed over perihelion, which made the planet a little warmer than its normal temperature.

"Peri" means near, while "Helios" was Greek God of sun; therefore, perihelion is point on orbit of any planet, comet or an asteroid when it is closest to the sun as compared to other days in the year. As per scientists, the phenomenon led to a slight rise in the temperature of earth.

According to Starry Night Education, the rise in temperature was mere four degree Fahrenheit and didn't make any big difference to warmth experienced by the people. Whatever effect of heat of sun increased, was observed mainly by the people living in the southern hemisphere.

On the day, sun appeared comparatively larger; however, the difference was not visible to the naked eye. Experts said that sun appeared 3.4% larger than its size as visible from a point when the planet is farthest from it.

Earth shall be passing over aphelion, a point on its orbit when it is farthest from sun, on July 5 in 2013. It shall be at a distance of 94,508,960 miles from sun on the day, while on January 2, it was exactly 91,402,560 miles away from it.