Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Moon Perigee and Apogee

Patience pays off. Six months ago I took a picture of the moon at Perigee, the closest point in its orbit to Earth. It was a full moon. Today (28-Nov-2012) it is a full moon again, but the moon is furthest away from Earth in its orbit - Apogee. The moon is indeed smaller, and in the exact ratio of the distances - about 15%. It is an experiment that I have wanted to do for a very long time and I am happy that I've completed it successfully.
The Apogee moon photo is from the moonrise which gives the orange tint to the picture. The reason for the orange moon is detailed in the following article.

Here is a photo of the two moons. It is not a matter of resizing. The same camera, same setting, same zoom were done to both photos. A picture is worth a thousand words.
Moon comparison at Perigee and Apogee
Moon comparison at Perigee and Apogee