The Moon's orbit is not a perfect circle, which means its distance from Earth varies slightly over the course of a month. At its closest point, called perigee, the Moon is about 225,622 miles away, and at its farthest point, called apogee, it's about 252,088 miles away. That's a difference of about 26,466 miles - roughly the distance from New York to Los Angeles and back again!
So, why is this distance important? Well, for one, it affects the tides on our planet. The Moon's gravity has a significant impact on our oceans, causing the water to bulge out in two areas: one on the side of the Earth facing the Moon and the other on the opposite side. This creates two high tides and two low tides each day, as the Earth rotates relative to the Moon's position.
But here's a fun fact: did you know that the Moon is actually moving away from us at a rate of about 1.5 inches per year? That's right, the Moon is slowly increasing its distance from Earth, which means that the tides will eventually become less pronounced. It's not a huge change, but it's still a pretty cool thing to think about - the Moon, slowly drifting away into space.
Яка відстань від Землі до Місяця? ⋆ FutureNow
