The apogee and perigee moon
Apogee and perigee refer to the distance from the Earth to the moon. Apogee is the furthest point from the earth and perigee is the closest point to the earth, in this stage the moon appears larger. Looking at the moon in the sky without anything to compare it to, you wouldn't notice any size difference. The difference in size can in fact be quite significant, up to 14% in apparent diameter.
A good apogee/perigee calculator can be found here.
 |
| On December 12th at 21:38 UT the moon was in it's perigee (the closest point to the earth) at a distance of 356567km from earth. The apparent diameter of the moon was 34'. The image is made with a Megrez 72mm APO + 2x Barlow + Dynax 5D DSLR. Exposure time was 1/400 sec @ 400ISO. |
|
© Copyright Rob Kantelberg
|