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what is the distance between earth and moon?
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3 Answers
- Anonymous1 decade agoFavorite Answer
It varies, as the Moon's orbit is not a perfect circle but an ellipse. Therefore there is a time in every lunar month when the moon is at its nearest to the earth (perigee) and a time, a fortnight later, when the moon is at its furthest away (apogee). 13 of each a year. The distance at every apogee will vary from lunar month to lunar month, as will the distance at every perigee.
Look at the photos in this link to compare the difference:
http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/moon_ap_per.html
The mean distance to the moon, 384, 401 km, is the semi-major axis of its elliptical orbit. The closest perigee in the years 1750 through 2125 was 356, 375 km on 4th January 1912; the most distant apogee in the same period will be 406, 720 km on 3rd February 2125
Here are the distances for the rest of this year and the start of next year.
Nov 2 apogee: 405, 722 km
Nov 14 perigee: 358, 972 km
Nov 29 apogee: 406, 479 km
Dec 12 perigee: 356, 567 km
Dec 26 apogee: 406, 600 km
Jan 10 perigee: 357, 500 km
Jan 23 apogee: 406, 115 km
Feb 7 perigee: 361, 486 km
Feb 19 apogee: 405, 131 km
Mar 7 perigee: 367, 019 km
Mar 19 apogee: 404, 301 km
Apr 2 perigee: 370, 013 km
So when people ask "why does the Moon look huge tonight, and sometimes it looks smaller?" the answer is that sometimes (perigees) it is nearer to us and that is what makes it look bigger and at other times (apogees) it is further away from us and that is what makes it look smaller.
Compare how large a football looks from the stands at a big football stadium with how much larger the same football looks from the touchline at a school playing field, where the spectator is closer to the game.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Just over 1 light second away.
So about 300 thousand Kms away or like 3,800 ks.
- TiToLv 41 decade ago
f you're measuring the center-to-center distance from the Earth to the Moon, the distance would be about 384,403 kilometers OR 238,857 miles.