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In contrast, the Lunar distance (LD or ), or Earth–Moon characteristic distance, is a unit of measure in astronomy. More technically, it is the semi-major axis of the geocentric lunar orbit . The lunar distance is on average approximately 385,000 km (239,000 mi), or 1.28 light-seconds ; this is roughly 30 times Earth's diameter or 9.5 times ...
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times the diameter of Earth. Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have synchronized the Moon's orbital period (lunar month) with its rotation period at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always face Earth.
The Sun's gravitational effect on the Moon is more than twice that of Earth's on the Moon; consequently, the Moon's trajectory is always convex [25] [26] (as seen when looking Sunward at the entire Sun–Earth–Moon system from a great distance outside Earth–Moon solar orbit), and is nowhere concave (from the same perspective) or looped.
Orion took the snapshot around its maximum distance from Earth of 268,563 miles. That's the farthest any human-oriented spacecraft has traveled, beating even Apollo 13's record of 248,655 miles ...
The first correction to the lunar distance is the distance between the limb of the Moon and its center. Since the Moon's apparent size varies with its varying distance from the Earth, almanacs give the Moon's and Sun's semidiameter for each day. [12] Additionally the observed altitudes are cleared of semidiameter.
380 Earth radii (very inaccurate, true=16000 Earth radii) Aristarchus of Samos made a measurement of the distance of the Sun from the Earth in relation to the distance of the Moon from the Earth. The distance to the Moon was described in Earth radii (20, also inaccurate). The diameter of the Earth had been calculated previously.
Measuring just 33 feet across, the asteroid will follow a horseshoe-like path around the Earth and will be a mini-moon from Sept. 29 until Nov. 25, according to a study published by the
The distance to the Moon can be measured with millimeter precision. [27] The Moon is spiraling away from Earth at a rate of 3.8 cm/year. [24] [42] This rate has been described as anomalously high. [43] The fluid core of the Moon was detected from the effects of core/mantle boundary dissipation. [44]