Question

What do you call the point in the orbit of the moon or a satellite at which it is nearest to Earth?
1. Perigee
2. Eclipse
3. Apsis
4. Apogee

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : Perigee

The correct answer is Perigee.

• For the Moon or an artificial satellite body moving around the Earth in an elliptical orbit, the distance between the object and the Earth changes throughout the orbit.
• The Moon's orbit around Earth is elliptical.
• The point of the orbit closest to Earth is called perigee, while the point farthest from Earth is known as apogee. 

• At the point of perigree in the orbit, the object is moving at its maximum speed (Kepler’s Second Law).
• An apsis is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body.
  • The Earth's two apsides are the farthest point- aphelion, and the nearest point- perihelion, of its orbit around the host Sun.
• The point of maximum separation from the Earth is known as the apogee. The apogee refers specifically to orbits around the Earth, and is equivalent to the apoapsis of a general orbit.