Our Moon reaches apogee, (furthest from Earth), for this orbit, on Sunday September 6th. For this apogee the 19-day old waning gibbous Moon will be at a distance of 31.79 Earth diameters, 252,031 miles (405,606 km) from the Earth.
On the date of the apogee the 19-day old waning gibbous Moon will be about 5o to the east from the planet Mars and both very visible through the night hours. Not visible to the naked-eye because of the bright Moonshine is the outer planet Uranus with a 5.8 apparent magnitude about 2-3o from the Moon.
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*
*Click here to read my 2006 Scope on the Sky column “The Real Shape of the Moon’s Orbit”. (PDF)
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for monthly observing information, or here to go to bobs-spaces.
Also Follow me and other great resources at Feedspot.
