Perigee

This is about the orbital parameter. For the quarterly publication, see Perigee: Publication for the Arts.

Perigee is the point at which an object in orbit around the Earth makes its closest approach to the Earth. This term commonly refers to the Moon but can be applied to any earth-orbiting body, such as artificial satellites. Often the term is used in a broader sense to define the point in an orbit where the orbitting body is closest to the body it orbits.

The Greek prefix "peri" means close or near. The suffix "gee", derived from Gaea, means Earth.

Perigee is part of the broader family of Apsis, astronomical terms which denote distances of orbiting bodies. Since all orbits are elliptical, each orbit contains both a nearest point and a farthest point.

See also

• Apsis
• Eccentric anomaly
• Elliptic orbit
• Apogee

External links

• Apogee - Perigee Photographic Size Comparison
• Perigee: Publication for the Arts This publication was founded in 2003, and features poetry, prose, and visual art. Submissions from the general public are considered year round.

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