Closest Point to The Moon on Earth? It is not Mount Everest.

As we all know, Mount Everest is Earth’s highest mountain above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The international border between China (Tibet Autonomous Region) and Nepal (Province No. 1) runs across its summit point. The current official elevation of 8,848 m (29,029 ft.), recognized by China and Nepal, was established by a 1955 Indian survey and subsequently confirmed by a Chinese survey in 1975.

Now Suppose I ask you to find the closest point to the moon on earth, the stars and outer space. Most of us will answer Mount Everest as it is the highest point on Earth.

At 29,028 feet (8848 m) above sea level, Mount Everest is the highest place on Earth when measured by sea level. But if we measure height based on the distance from the center of the Earth, Mount Chimborazo takes the place.

With a peak elevation of 6,263 m (20,548 ft.), Mount Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador. It is the highest peak near the equator. Chimborazo is not the highest mountain by elevation above sea level, but its location along the equatorial bulge makes its summit the farthest point on the Earth’s surface from the Earth’s center as well as the closest point to the moon on Earth.

Although Mount Chimborazo is 8480 feet (2584.7 m) shorter (relative to sea level) than Everest, this mountain is about 1.5 miles farther into space because of the equatorial bulge.

What is equatorial bulge?

An equatorial bulge is a difference between the polar and equatorial of a planet due to the force exerted by the rotation of planet. A rotating body tends to form an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere. Source – Wikipedia

The Earth is not a perfect sphere. The Earth Isn’t Perfectly Round. The Earth, it turns out, is more like a beach ball that someone sat on: It has a slightly bloated middle.

Scientists call this an “oblate spheroid,” which means there is a bulge that circles the Earth just below the equator. so, if you are standing in that part of the world, you are already standing higher or closer to outer space, than other people who aren’t on the bulge.

Therefore, people in Ecuador, Kenya, Tanzania and Indonesia are all a bit closer to the moon (not much, only about 13 miles closer) than people standing at the North and South poles.

Hence Mount Chimborazo is about 1.5 miles farther into space because of the equatorial bulge and closet to the moon than Mount Everest.

What do you think? Please leave your opinion in the comments section.