Earth's perihelion vs winter solstice I found that Earth's perihelion occurs roughly two weeks after winter solstice similar thing happens for summer solstice and aphelion. I understand what those terms mean but I don't understand the reason for the two-week gap. I actually thought they occur on the same day. 

What am I not understanding here? Can anyone explain the reason for the two weeks? 

My understanding is that the earth's aphelion and perihelion occur on the major axis of earth's elliptical orbit. Why are they not the extremities of analemma which correspond to solstices? Where is my thinking wrong?
There is no connection between the date of the solstice and the perihelion. It is merely a minor coincidence that perihelion occurs close to the solstice. 

The relationship isn't fixed. Precession in the Earth's orbit (caused by gravitational perturbations of Jupiter and other planets) will change the relative time of perihelion and solstice over a period of thousands of years.