Question

What is Apogee?
A) Closest to Earth
B) Farthest from Earth
C) Equal from Earth
D) None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Apogee is the position of an object's orbit around the Earth that is the furthest away from the Earth's centre (such as a satellite).

Complete answer:
Option A) Closest to Earth: Apogee does not mean that the Moon is closest to the Earth; the orbit of the Moon around the Earth is elliptical. Perigee is the nearest point of the orbit to Earth. Thus, this option is incorrect.

Option B) Farthest from Earth: The distance between the Moon and the Earth varies in the orbit of a natural or artificial satellite travelling around the Earth in an elliptical orbit.

The apogee (from the Greek apo = away from) is the point of greatest separation from the Earth.
The object is travelling at the slowest speed at this stage in orbit (Kepler's Second Law). The apogee is the apoapsis of a general orbit, and it refers to orbits around the Earth specifically. The perigee is the nearest point between the Earth and a celestial object orbiting it.

Option C) Equal from Earth: Apogee does not mean that the Moon is equal to the Earth. Thus, this option is incorrect.

Option D) None of the above: None of the above is the incorrect option.

Thus, the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note: Since the Moon's orbit isn't completely circular, its distance from Earth varies during its monthly orbit. The Moon's eccentric orbit takes it to apogee – its farthest point from Earth – every month, and then to perigee – the Moon's nearest point to Earth in its monthly orbit – two weeks later.