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Around this time, the Moon's declination will vary from −28°36′ to +28°36′. Conversely, 9.3 years later, the angle between the Moon's orbit and Earth's equator reaches its minimum of 18°20′. This is called a minor lunar standstill. The last lunar standstill was a minor standstill in October 2015.
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite, orbiting at an average distance of 384 399 km (238,854 mi; 30 Earths across).It faces Earth always with the same side.This is a result of Earth's gravitational pull having synchronized the Moon's rotation period with its orbital period (lunar month) of 29.5 Earth days.
A lunar distance, 384,399 km (238,854 mi), is the Moon's average distance to Earth. The actual distance varies over the course of its orbit. The image compares the Moon's apparent size when it is nearest and farthest from Earth.
It passed within 6,000 kilometres (3,200 nmi; 3,700 mi) of the Moon's surface, but did not achieve lunar orbit. [11] Luna 3 , launched on October 4, 1959, was the first robotic spacecraft to complete a circumlunar free return trajectory , still not a lunar orbit, but a figure-8 trajectory which swung around the far side of the Moon and returned ...
According to NASA, they're currently in "a near-polar, elliptical orbit with an orbital period of approximately 11.5 hours," and it plans to execute more "burn maneuvers" in the coming weeks to ...
The sizes and masses of many of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn are fairly well known due to numerous observations and interactions of the Galileo and Cassini orbiters; however, many of the moons with a radius less than ~100 km, such as Jupiter's Himalia, have far less certain masses. [5]
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy snapped thousands of photos of the moon. Skip to main content. 24/7 Help. For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us ...
Such an orbit can place a satellite in constant sunlight and is useful for imaging, spy, and weather satellites. Frozen orbit: An orbit in which natural drifting due to the central body's shape has been minimized by careful selection of the orbital parameters. Orbit of the Moon: The orbital characteristics of the Moon.