Lunar extreme perigees

[ricci]

The medium distance of the Moon from the Earth is 384400 km. Considering that the eccentricity of the lunar orbit is e=0.0549 we know that its least and maximum perigees are respectively 363296 and 405504 km.

Nevertheless because of its motion is strongly perturbed by the solar attraction, from the planets and from the form of the Earth, this values are very distant from the reality. Every 206 days, when the greatest axis of the lunar orbit is directed toward the Sun, the lunar eccentricity reaches a maximum and the distance of perigeum is smaller than the normal one. The chart lists the days of the year up to 10000 in which the perigeum is inferior to 356500 km; in such occasions with a lunar photo the disk of our satellite will be 8% greater than the average.

www.pierpaoloricci.it/dati/perigeilunari_eng.htm