EarthSky 1/18/2023
According to our calculations, on January 21, 2023, the new moon will be at its closest distance to Earth for the last 992 years. The next time the new moon is this close to Earth will be 345 years from now, making this the closest new moon in 1,337 years.
The moon’s orbit around Earth is not a perfect circle. Instead, it has an elliptical shape, like a slightly stretched circle. This means the distance between the moon and Earth changes over the course of a month. The point on the moon’s orbit that is closest to Earth is perigee; the farthest point is apogee.
If perigee or apogee coincides with a new moon or full moon – when the Earth, moon and sun are in alignment – the moon’s closest and farthest distances become more extreme. This leads to the phenomena of supermoons and micromoons, where the moon is particularly near or far away.
The most extreme Earth-moon distances of all occur when Earth is near its closest point to the sun, or perihelion. Currently, perihelion falls around the beginning of January.
More:
https://earthsky.org/space/closest-new-moon-since-the-middle-ages-1337-years/
