It means in Latin-Greek, "Closest to the Earth" and refers to a position in an orbit. Apogee means "Farthest from the Earth"
Another answer
According to the Free Dictionary by Farlex, "The point in any orbit nearest to the body being orbited."
Apogee is the point, in an elliptical orbit around the Earth, where an object is furthest from the Earth. Perigee is the closest point to the Earth in such an orbit.
Apogee: The point in the orbit of the moon or an artificial satellite where it's farthest from the earth.
Perigee: The point in the orbit of the moon or an artificial satellite where it's closest to the earth.
That's because the Moon's orbit is not a circle. It's an ellipse.
That's for the same reason that most objects in an orbit move in an ellipse.
For an object to move in an exact circle in an orbit - around Earth, around the Sun, around a black hole, around a galaxy cluster, or whatever - if it is at a certain distance, it needs to have a very specific speed. Change this speed just a bit, and the orbit may change to an ellipse.
Basically, an ellipse is the "natural" shape of orbit for a celestial body.
When the Moon is closest to Earth it is at perigee.
When the Moon is furthest from the Earth it's at apogee.
Planets move in orbits around the Sun. Sometimes they are closer, sometimes
farther away. The point where a planet is closest to the Sun in its orbit is called
perihelion; the farthest point from the Sun in the orbit is called aphelion.
Satellites move in orbits around their planets. Sometimes they are closer, sometimes
farther away. The point where our moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit is called
perigee; the farthest point from the Earth in the moon's orbit is called apogee.
The point in the moon's orbit which is farthest from the earth is APOGEE.
The point in the moon's orbit which is closest to the earth is PERIGEE.
NOTE:
distance from earth is calculated from the "gravitational center of the earth".
The Moon moves around the Earth in an ellipse. The perigee is simply the part of the orbit at which the Moon is closest to the Earth. The more general term "periapsis" is preferable - this refers to orbits in general, not just orbits around the Earth.
"Peri-", meaning "near", and "gee" as an abbreviation for the Earth's gravity; "perigee" is the point in any orbit when a satellite is as close to the Earth as it ever comes. The Moon orbits the Earth, and reaches perigee once per orbit, ever 27.5 days.
The special thing about today is that the Moon reaches perigee, coincidentally, when the Moon is precisely full. Those two things only happen exactly together about once every 28 years.
Because the Moon does not orbit the Sun, we don't talk about the perihelion or aphelion of the Moon.
The Moon orbits the EARTH, so we refer to "perigee" and "apogee" to refer to the closest point of approach to Earth and the farthest point from the Earth.
Perigee: the part of an orbit around the Earth where an object is closest to Earth.
Apogee: the part where it is farthest.
Instead of specific words for different types of central objects (perigee, perihelion, etc.), it is recommended to use the more generic terms, periapsis and apoapsis. That way, you don't need scores of different names for what is basically the same concept.
perigee - Closest to the Earth and refers to a position in an orbit.
Apogee - Farthest from the Earth
Full Moon. A New Moon is when you can't see a moon at all.
Waxing is an archaic term used to mean something is growing. So, a waxing crescent means that from the observer's position on earth, the crescent moon is increasing in size. The moon's two main phases are waxing and waning. Waning which means it is getting smaller.
There are 8 different moon phases.
The term is syzygy (astronomy) or a solar eclipse.
What?? That would be the sun, right? ________________________ Orbits are not circular; they are elliptical. An orbiting planet is alternately closer the the Sun and farther from it. There is a special word that we use to mean the point in an object's orbit in which it is closest to the Sun. That's "perihelion"; "peri-" meaning "near", and "Helios" from the Greek word for the Sun. The antonym is "aphelion", meaning "farthest point from the Sun" in the planetary orbit.
The moon is said to be at its Perigee when at its closest point to the Earth, Apogee when at its furthest point. Perigee and Apogee can also be used for other objects when orbiting about the Earth. If we talk about objects orbiting the sun (such as the planets) we use the term Perihelion and Aphelion (the helion part coming from the latin name of helios for the sun). If the perigee coincides with a full moon, we get a `supermoon`. The moon is at its largest circumference as it is at its closest, and is also full.
"Supermoon" is the recent hyperbole term for the perigee full moon. The Moon's orbit around the Earth is an ellipse; all orbits are ellipses. When the full moon happens at or around the time of perigee (closest point of approach to the Earth), the Moon appears to be about 10% bigger and brighter than it would appear when the full moon is at apogee (farthest point from the Earth). Perigee full moons happen every year, so the term "supermoon" is silly.
Perhaps you mean "... from the Earth"? Like any other object that goes around another object in an orbit, the Moon goes around the Earth in an ellipse. Sometimes it is closer to Earth, sometimes farther. The closest point is known either as perigee, or by the more generic term periapsis. The farthest point is apogee, or apapsis. The difference in distance between perigee and apogee is not enormous; you don't see much difference with the unaided eye.It seems the next apogee is Nov. 22, 2009; but please note that this is unrelated to the Moon's phases.
The word "apogee" is used to describe the farthest point away from Earth, while perigee is the closest point to Earth. This is used to describe the parameters of satellite orbits around the Earth. Both values may change due to gravitational variations.The word apogee is the adaptation of the term apsis which is the term for a farthest distance from some object, with gee (geo) meaning Earth.
Perigee.
perigee
Perigee, "peri-" for close, and "gee" as an abbreviation for the gravity of the Earth. The point at which the Moon is farthest away is called "apogee". The points in Earth's orbit around the Sun when the Earth is closest and farthest are perihelion and aphelion, from the Greek word "Helios" for the Sun.
That point in the moon's orbit is called the "apogee".
Apogee:"point at which the moon is farthest from the earth," 1590s, from Fr. apogée, from L. apogæum, from Gk. apogaion, neut. adj., "away from the earth," a term from Ptolemaic astronomy, from apo "off, away" (see http://wiki.answers.com/index.php?term=apo-) + gaia/ge "earth."Perigee:"point at which a celestial body is nearest the Earth," 1594, from Mod.L. perigeum (15c.), from Late Gk. peregeion,used by Ptolemy as a noun, properly neut. of adj. perigeios"near the earth," from peri ges, from peri "near" + ges, gen. of ge "earth."
The word "perigee" means the point in an orbit when the satellite is as close as it ever gets to the Earth. The prefix "peri" means "near to", and "gee" is used to refer to the Earth's gravitational mass. The word "perihelion", from "peri" for near and the Greek name of the Sun "Helios", means "as close to the Sun as something ever gets".
ap·o·geen.1. The point in the orbit of the moon or of an artificial satellite most distant from the center of the earth.2. The point in an orbit most distant from the body being orbited.3. The farthest or highest point; the apex: "The golden age of American sail, which began with the fast clipper ships in 1848, reached its apogee in the Gold Rush years" (Los Angeles Times)Above retrieved from Answers.comViper1It is the point in the orbit of the moon or of an artificial satellite most distant from the center. So when the moon is at it's farthest point from the Earth, that is it's apogee. The closest point, by the way, is called the perigee.
All night. The proper term is "perigee full moon" , and it happens every 15 years or so when the full moon happens to coincide with the Moon's "perigee", or closest point of approach to the Earth. This one isn't anything particularly special.