Orbit and
Phases of the Moon

The orbit of the Moon is very nearly circular (eccentricity ~ 0.05) with a mean separation from the Earth of about 384,000 km, which is about 60 Earth radii. The plane of the orbit is tilted about 5 degrees with respect to the ecliptic plane.

Revolution in Orbit

The Moon appears to move completely around the celestial sphere once in about 27.3 days as observed from the Earth. This is called a sidereal month, and reflects the corresponding orbital period of 27.3 days The moon takes 29.5 days to return to the same point on the celestial sphere as referenced to the Sun because of the motion of the Earth around the Sun; this is called a synodic month (Lunar phases as observed from the Earth are correlated with the synodic month). There are effects that cause small fluctuations around this value that we will not discuss. Since the Moon must move Eastward among the constellations enough to go completely around the sky (360 degrees) in 27.3 days, it must move Eastward by 13.2 degrees each day (in contrast, remember that the Sun only appears to move Eastward by about 1 degree per day). Thus, with respect to the background constellations the Moon will be about 13.2 degrees further East each day. Since the celestial sphere appears to turn 1 degree about every 4 minutes, the Moon crosses our celestial meridian about 13.2 x 4 = 52.8 minutes later each day.

Lunar Phases

The Moon appears to go through a complete set of phases as viewed from the Earth because of its motion around the Earth, as illustrated in the following figure.

Phases of the Moon


In this figure, the various positions of the Moon on its orbit are shown (the motion of the Moon on its orbit is assumed to be counter-clockwise). The outer set of figures shows the corresponding phase as viewed from Earth, and the common names for the phases.

Here is an animation of actual lunar phases, and here is a Java applet illustrating the orbit of the moon around the Earth and the corresponding phases of the Moon as viewed from Earth. Notice that you can set this applet to a top view, an Earth view, or both on a split screen, and that you can start and stop the animation with a button. Also, note that in this applet the position of the Sun is shown to the left, whereas in the above figure the view is such that the position of the Sun is to the right.

Perigee and Apogee

The largest separation between the Earth and Moon on its orbit is called apogee and the smallest separation is called perigee. Here is an online Lunar Perigee and Apogee Calculator that will allow you to determine the date, time, and distance of lunar perigees and apogees for a given year (Credit: John Walker).

Rotational Period and Tidal Locking

The Moon has a rotational period of 27.3 days that (except for small fluctuations) exactly coincides with its (sidereal) period for revolution about the Earth. As we will see later, this is no coincidence; it is a consequence of tidal coupling between the Earth and Moon. Because of this tidal locking of the periods for revolution and rotation, the Moon always keeps essentially the same face turned toward the Earth (small fluctuation mean that over a period of time we can actually see about 55% of the Lunar surface from the Earth).

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