The Moon reaches perigee, (minimum distance from Earth), this month on Thursday March 10^th. At that time the Moon will more or less be at a distance of 28.18 Earth diameters (359,510 km or 223,389 miles) from the Earth.
   Does our Moon actually go around the Earth as this graphic shows? From our perspective on the Earth the Moon appears to circle around the Earth. However, in reality, the Moon orbits the Sun together with the Earth^*

   
   
   The very thin 2-day old waxing crescent Moon is visible over the southwest horizon an hour or so after sunset local time.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   ^*Click here to read my 2006 Scope on the Sky column “The Real Shape of the Moon’s Orbit”. (PDF)

   Read this very informative article about the Earth-Moon system and their orbital motions, written by Joe Hanson. “Do We Orbit the Moon?”

   
   
   

   Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for more observing information for this month.