Gloria Gears Smith, age 13, of Darlington, South Carolina, for her question:

How far is the moon from the sun?

This moving picture changes from moment to moment. But with minor variations, the moon and the earth are about the same distance from the sun. Through the year, they share the same orbit and its average distance from the sun is about 93 million miles. However, the earth bowls straight ahead around this orbit. As it goes, the moon makes curlicue orbits around it.

The average distance between the earth and the moon is about 238,000 miles  ¬which is a mere step compared with the distance to the sun. However, the orbiting moon changes its position in relation to the earth and the sun. At New Moon, it is about 238,000 miles closer to the sun than we are. At Full Moon, it is the same distance farther than we are from the sun. In round figures, the moon's distance from the sun varies moment by moment from about 92 and 3/4 million miles to 93 and 1/4 million miles. This basic estimate varies because neither the earth's orbit nor the moon's orbit is a perfect circle.