perigee 復習

あいにくの雨で、残念ながら私はスーパームーンを見ることはできませんでした。

Brightest in 69 years, supermoon to light up night sky this week

The brightest moon in almost 69 years will be lighting up the sky this week in a treat for star watchers around the globe.

The phenomenon known as the supermoon will reach its most luminescent in North America before dawn on Monday. It will reach its zenith in Asia and the South Pacific on Monday night. Across the international dateline in New Zealand, it will reach its brightest after midnight on Tuesday local time.

The moon orbits the Earth in an oval shape. The moon will be at its brightest this week because it is coming closer to the Earth along its elliptical orbit than at any time since January 1948. The supermoon will also bring stronger than usual high tides, followed by plunging low tides the next morning.

中略

According to the astronomy website earthsky.org, the term supermoon entered usage five years ago when the closest full moon fell on March 19, 2011. The scientific term is perigee full moon.

In 2034, the moon will come even closer, within 221,485 miles. That, too, will be a supermoon.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201611140059.html

今回取り上げる表現はperigee /ˈper.ɪ.dʒiː/です。手持ちの紙の辞書では見つけることはできませんでしたが、電子辞書に内蔵されている『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第4版　大修館書店）には「（天）近地点（月や人工衛星が軌道上で地球に最も近づく点）」とありました。Merriam-Websterでも調べてみると、 “the point in outer space where an object traveling around the Earth (such as a satellite or the moon) is closest to the Earth” と定義されております。ちなみに、反意語はapogeeで「遠地点」となります。

“perigee full moon” は天文学のことばで「近点の満月」というそうです。

この表現は過去にも取り上げられておりました。（aqua）
perigee/apogee - 田邉祐司ゼミ 常時英心：言葉の森から