Our Moon reaches apogee, (furthest from Earth), for this orbit, on Thursday November 26th. For this apogee the 12-day old waxing gibbous Moon will be at a distance of 31.82 Earth diameters, 252,211 miles (405,894 km) from the Earth.
On the date of the apogee the 12-day old waxing gibbous Moon will be about 12o to the east from the planet Mars. The Moon will also be about 11o west from the outer planet Uranus. Currently Uranus has an apparent magnitude of around 5.7 meaning that it could be seen with the unaided in dark enough skies, or with telescopes and even binoculars – as long as the Moon is not in that part of the sky.
Along the Ecliptic
You may notice the arrangement of the planets spread across the horizon as shown in the graphic. Many objects in our solar system orbit the Sun in a path that is somewhat parallel with the Earth’s orbit, the ecliptic. All of the orbits are tilted or inclined away from the ecliptic however the 8 classical planets all have orbits that are inclined less than 7o from the ecliptic. Dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, for example, have orbital inclinations greater than 7o.
The ecliptic also defines the Sun’s apparent path against the background of stars throughout the year. The planets are also in motion as they orbit the Sun as the video below illustrates.
Take a short cruise along the ecliptic with the Sun!
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.
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This past month, November, the inner planets Mercury and Venus were very visible in the early morning skies before sunrise. Both of the planets were at or near their respective western elongation. Venus was there during August and Mercury reached its western elongation on November 10th.
