During what month of the year is the moon closest to the earth? I took an exam in college one time and this was a question they asked but they only had months of the year as the answers (I said September but I was wrong). [This message has been edited by Caralene (edited April 12, 2000).]
the moon is moving away from the earth at about an inch every year.So technically speaking,it is a little bit farther away each day,maybe only millimeters but still father away.If you wish to know all about how our planet,system,and universe was created hop to www.urantia .org .Or write me at machiaventa@aol .com or try htp://hometown.aol.com/demostheme/beam.htm These web sites might help answer questions also. Machiaventa Speaks Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Actually on February 7 of 97 the Perigee of the moon was at closest than any other month in 97 (http://www.hooked.net/~sidereal/moonapsi.html) and I also remember that in February of this year the Perigee was the closest point in 100 years or so (can't find a link), so I would guess the month of February. I remember reading about it in the paper a checking it out that night because the moon appeared twice as bright as other nights. Whether it always had its closest point in the same month I don't know, but it would be interesting to find out.
Greetings - What time periods were those measurements made with respect to? They appear to have been taken at various random intervals. The anomalistic month (perigee to perigee) is close to 27.5 days, so such variations would be expected. FyreStar [This message has been edited by FyreStar (edited April 14, 2000).]
Here is another better link that gives the perigee and apogee for any year you want. http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/pacalc.html As far as when the information is taken, I do not know for sure but speculate it doesn't follow the 27.5 day rule because I think the elliptical orbit rotates around the Earth as well. I don't really know how to explain it better than that other than to say the orbit wobbles around the Earth. sprout
Very perceptive of you Sprout. I was waiting to see who would get it correct. Due to the differential attraction by the sun on the earth-moon system the line defining the moon's apogee & perigee does rotate in the plane of its orbit about every 8.8 years. However, the moon's orbit is inclined about 5 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic (the earth's orbit with respect to the sun). So there is also a rotation of the moon's orbital plane relative to the ecliptic (for the same reason) with a period of about 18.6 yrs. This interplay plus the variation in solar distance from aphelion to perihelion through the year results in monthly lunar variation as seen in the chart via the excellent link you have provided. Energy
