To understand the basic cause of the seasons and address a common misconception by showing that seasons are not related to earth's varying distance from the sun.

introduction. earth’s orbit around the sun is elliptical (rather than circular), which means the earth–sun distance varies over the course of each year. the following table gives the earth–sun distance at the equinoxes and solstices:

time of year earth–sun distance
march (northern spring) equinox 149.0 million km
june (northern summer) solstice 152.0 million km
september (northern fall) equinox 150.2 million km
december (northern winter) solstice 147.2 million km
part a

refer to the data in the introduction. rank the seasons for the northern hemisphere based on earth’s distance from the sun when each season begins, from closest to farthest