Moon near Perigee, Earth near Aphelion

In the first few days of July 2004, three unrelated celestial phenomena happened to coincide: full Moon, lunar perigee, and Earth's passage through aphelion. This permitted photographing the full Moon and Sun within one day, showing the difference in their apparent size. The effect of the Sun and Moon's orbits on the appearance and duration of solar eclipses is discussed, and an estimate is made of when the last-ever total solar eclipse will be visible from Earth. New: January 26th, 2005 update adds photos of the apogean full Moon of January 2005 compared to the Sun with the Earth near perihelion.