August moon, time for lovers?

Question

Ι need to write an article and I need information with regard to the orbit of moon and the phenomenon that makes bigger than the others moons ( from all months of the year)

thanks u!

Answer 1

The Moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical path.  This means that at times, the Moon is closer to Earth making it larger in our sky.  At other times it is further away making it appear smaller.  When the Moon is closest to Earth we call it perigee and when it is furthest away we call it apogee.

For 2008 the closest the moon was to Earth was June 3rd when the Moon was 357250 km from the Earth.  The Moon will be the furthest from Earth on December 26 when it will be 406600 km from the Earth.  

The Moon takes 27.3 days to orbit the earth so apporximately every 13.7 days we go fom apogee to perigee.  Not all apogees or perigees are the same distance away. the site below will give you much more information on this topic.

http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/moon_a...

best of luck with your article

Answer 2

The fact that the moon seems bigger in August doesn't have anything to do with its actual distance from Earth.  The Moon gets slightly closer and farther form Earth on a regular (roughly 27 day) schedule, but the difference is so slight that we don't notice it.  The reason that it seems larger in August is because it appears brighter.  August is a month in which the tilt of the Earth relative to the sun favors the northern hemisphere, so if you're in the north the moon's light travels at a more direct angle to you.  In the dark of night, brighter objects appear bigger to us, which is why the moon will seem bigger in August than it does in July or December (for example.)