The picture above portrays a moon phase simulation on June 29-30, 2020, as our world of companion enters this month’s second lunar perigee. The picture is taken from Fourmilab.
The moon in its orbit moves at perigee closest to Earth, and at apogee farthest from Earth. In 2020, there are 13 lunar perigees in total, and it’s likely that two lunar perigees will be harbored in one calendar month this year. Therefore, this double feature occurs this month – June 2020! June’s second perigee happens on June 29 or 30 depending on where you live (June 30 at 02:09 UTC). However, some people might want to name this a Blue Moon perigee, and that is because the Blue Moon is commonly defined as the second full moon of the month; this June 29-30 perigee is also the second one this month.
The first lunar perigee happened on June 3, 202 at 03:36 UTC.
The second one comes at 2:09 UTC on the 30th of June 2020. If we convert Universal Time to the time zones in the United States and North America, it puts the second lunar perigee of the month on; June 29, 2020, at 11:09 p.m. ADT, 10:09 p.m. EDT, 9:09 p.m. CDT, 8:09 p.m. MDT, 7:09 p.m. PDT, 6:09 p.m. AKDT (Alaskan Daylight Time) and 4:09 p.m. HST (Hawaiian Standard Time).
On June 30, 2020, the second lunar perigee will be 2.853 miles (4.592 km) more distant than the first perigee that happened on June 3.
364,366 km (226,407 miles) – first lunar perigee on 3rd of June, 2020
229,260 miles (368,958 km) – second lunar perigee on 30th of June, 2020
In addition, June 30’s second lunar perigee is counted as the farthest one of the whole year. It is 7,488 miles or 12,051 km farther than the closest perigee of the year on April 7, 2020.
221,772 miles (356,907 km) – the closest lunar perigee on April 7, 2020
229,260 miles (368,958 km) – the farthest lunar perigee on June 30, 2020
Almost two weeks from now – at 19:27 UTC on July 12, 2020, it will be the year’s closest apogee: 251,158 miles (404,199 km). Compare this distance with that of the farthest apogee of the year that happened on March 24, 2020; 252, 7070 miles or 406,692 km). The variation in distance between the closest and farthest apogees of the year is 1,549 miles (2,493 km).
The distance gap between the closest and farthest perigees of this year is 7,488 miles or 12,051 km. That is 4.8 times greater than the difference between the closest and farthest apogees of the year (1,549 miles or 2,493).
That is happening in any year. There is always a large gap in distance between the closest and farthest perigees of the year, but a very small difference between the closest and farthest apogees.
To sum up, you should embrace the moon with all its glorious beauty as it reaches this month’s second perigee on June 29-30, 2020. This perigee is also the most distant perigee of the moon for the year.