How far is Jupiter from the Sun?

Today, 10 October 2026, Jupiter is 794,373,235 km from the Sun — 0.794 billion kilometres, or 5.310 astronomical units. That figure changes constantly: the orbit is an ellipse, so Jupiter is closer at one end than the other.

What is Jupiter's average distance from the Sun?

5.203 AU — 0.778 billion km. This is the semi-major axis, which is the number most references quote as "the" distance. It is an average, and Jupiter is actually at it only twice per orbit.

What are Jupiter's closest and furthest distances?

Closest (perihelion) 4.953 AU or 0.741 billion km, next on 5 December 2034. Furthest (aphelion) 5.454 AU or 0.816 billion km, next on 28 December 2028. The difference between them is 75,004,293 km.

How long does sunlight take to reach Jupiter?

44.2 minutes at today's distance. Light from the Sun reaches Earth in about 8 minutes 20 seconds, so sunlight arrives at Jupiter roughly 5.3 times later than it reaches us.

Jupiter

Jupiter's distance from the Sun

Not the average everyone quotes — the figure for today, and the two extremes it swings between.

Right now

0.794 billion km

794,373,235 km · 5.310 AU · sunlight takes 44.2 minutes to get there

Computed 10 October 2026 and rebuilt through the day.

Closest to the Sun: 4.953 AU; 0.741 bn km · 5 December 2034
Furthest from the Sun: 5.454 AU; 0.816 bn km · 28 December 2028
Average: 5.203 AU; the figure most tables give
Orbital speed: 12.80 km/s; right now, from the ephemeris

Why there is no single answer

Jupiter’s orbit is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus rather than at the centre, so the distance changes continuously. Over one orbit it swings by 75,004,293 km — aphelion is 1.10 times further out than perihelion. At 0.0482 the orbit is close to circular. The difference is real and measurable, but not something the eye would pick out of a drawing.

That is why the number in an encyclopedia and the number here differ. Theirs is the semi-major axis, an average over the whole orbit; this one is where Jupiter is today. Both are correct, and they answer different questions.

Looking down on the plane of the ecliptic, traced from the ephemeris over one full orbit of 11.9 years. Mars’s orbit is the faint one, for scale. The Sun sits off the centre of the ellipse — that offset is the eccentricity, and it is why the two distances differ.

Where it is heading

Jupiter reaches aphelion — its furthest point from the Sun — on 28 December 2028, in 2.2 years, at 5.454 AU. It is currently 71% of the way from perihelion to aphelion, moving at 12.80 km/s.

Distance from Earth is a different question again, and a more variable one: today it is 5.807 AU, and it changes as both planets move. Jupiter right now carries that figure.

Common questions

How far is Jupiter from the Sun?: Today, 10 October 2026, Jupiter is 794,373,235 km from the Sun — 0.794 billion kilometres, or 5.310 astronomical units. That figure changes constantly: the orbit is an ellipse, so Jupiter is closer at one end than the other.
What is Jupiter's average distance from the Sun?: 5.203 AU — 0.778 billion km. This is the semi-major axis, which is the number most references quote as "the" distance. It is an average, and Jupiter is actually at it only twice per orbit.
What are Jupiter's closest and furthest distances?: Closest (perihelion) 4.953 AU or 0.741 billion km, next on 5 December 2034. Furthest (aphelion) 5.454 AU or 0.816 billion km, next on 28 December 2028. The difference between them is 75,004,293 km.
How long does sunlight take to reach Jupiter?: 44.2 minutes at today's distance. Light from the Sun reaches Earth in about 8 minutes 20 seconds, so sunlight arrives at Jupiter roughly 5.3 times later than it reaches us.

Positions from VSOP87 via Astronomy Engine, accurate to within one arcminute. Perihelion and aphelion are found by search rather than taken from a table, which is why the dates are exact and why the extremes differ slightly from one orbit to the next — the other planets pull on this one. See Jupiter’s orbit, Jupiter right now, or watch it move in the live simulation.