Our Moon reaches perigee, (closest to Earth), for this orbit, on Friday September 18st. At that time the Moon will be at a distance of 28.15 Earth diameters, 223,122 miles (359,081 km) from the Earth.
On the day of the perigee Moon the 1.5-day old waxing crescent Moon will be over the western horizon near the innermost planet Mercury. Further to the east are Jupiter and Saturn.
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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Wednesday September 10th the 22-day old last quarter Moon will be crossing the plane of the ecliptic moving north. This is known as the 
Does our Moon actually go around the Earth as many graphics show? 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*
Aldebaran is at one of the open ends of the v-shaped open star cluster, the Hyades, the shape making up the Bull’s face.
Look at the arrangement of the planets in the graphics below. One of the defining aspects of our solar system is the arrangement of the planets outward from the Sun. Not by size or distance but rather how their respective orbital paths around the Sun are all vertically arranged near the Earth’s orbital path, or as it is typically referred to as the Ecliptic or the Plane of the Ecliptic. The 8 classic planets all orbit the Sun with an orbital path that is up to about 8o from the ecliptic. This is called inclination. The table shows inclination relative the Earth’s orbit and also relative to the Sun’s center, its equator.
