 |
Ask A Scientist©
Astronomy Archive
|
 |
Earth-Moon distance
Author: marjorie e smith
How far away is the Moon from the Earth?
Response #: 1 of 1
Author: hawley
A good "rule of thumb" value to remember is a quarter million miles. More
precisely, the Moon's orbit is elliptical: its average orbital radius is
384401 km, apogee (farthest distance from the Earth) is 406700 km, and
perigee (distance of closest approach to the Earth) is 356400 km.
Extra credit: what do we call the closest and farthest orbital distances of
planets around the Sun? (hint: they begin with peri- and apo-)
NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators.
Argonne National Laboratory, Division of Educational Programs, Harold Myron, Ph.D., Division Director.