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Name: Marjorie E Smith
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Question:
How far away is the Moon from the Earth?


Replies:
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-)

Hawley

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