Perigee (redirected from Perigeum)

perigee (pĕr`ĭjē), point nearest the earth in the orbit of a body about the earth. See apsis.

---

perigee

the point in its orbit around the earth when the moon or an artificial satellite is nearest the earth

---

perigee [′per·ə‚jē]

(astronomy)

The point in the orbit of the moon or other satellite when it is nearest the earth.

---

Perigee 

the point in the orbit of the moon or an artificial satellite that is nearest the earth. Perturbations change the position of the perigee in space. Thus, because of perturbations caused by the sun, the moon’s perigee moves along an orbit in the same direction as the moon, completing a revolution in 8.85 years. The shift in the perigee of an artificial earth satellite chiefly arises from the aspherical nature of the earth, and the magnitude and direction of this motion depend on the inclination of the orbital plane of the satellite to the plane of the earth’s equator. The distance from the perigee to the center of the earth is called the perigee distance.