the.com/perigee
the moon's clingiest moment, swinging close enough to puff up tides and tempers
means The point in the orbit of the moon or a satellite where it comes closest to the Earth.
from From Greek 'perigeion,' built from 'peri-' meaning 'near' or 'around' and 'gaia/ge' meaning 'earth' — so literally 'near-Earth.' It traveled into English in the 1500s through the astronomy of the day, and shares its 'peri-' with cousins like 'perimeter' and 'period.' Its mirror-twin is 'apogee,' the moon's farthest, frostiest remove.
- distance
- Roughly 363,000 km, about 50,000 closer than apogee
- supermoon
- A full moon at perigee looks 14% bigger
- tides
- Perigee aligns with full moon for towering spring tides
- origin
- Greek for near the Earth
- not just moon
- Any Earth orbiter has its own perigee
for instance
moon's perigee — lunar distance varies 356,500 km at perigee vs 406,700 km at apogee