apogee

Etymology

From French apogée, from Latin apogaeum, apogeum, from Ancient Greek ἀπόγειον (apógeion, “away from Earth”), from ἀπό (apó, “away”) + γῆ (gê, “Earth”).

noun

1. (astronomy) The point, in an orbit about the Earth, that is farthest from the Earth: the apoapsis of an Earth orbiter.
2. (astronomy, more generally) The point, in an orbit about any planet, that is farthest from the planet: the apoapsis of any satellite.
   Conjunctions of I and II [Io and Europa] occur when they are near perigee and apogee respectively; conjunctions of II and III [Europa and Ganymede] occur when II [Europa] is near perigee. 1995, John H. Rogers, The Giant Planet Jupiter, Cambridge University Press, page 335
   The resolution of the images obtained by this American probe [Messenger] will depend on its altitude [above Mercury] at any one time: about ten meters at perigee (200km altitude), but only one 1 km at apogee (15000km). 2002, Serge Brunier, Solar System Voyage, Cambridge University Press, page 36
   [Nereid’s] apogee—farthest point from Neptune—is five times the distance of its perigee—its closest point. 2010, Ruth WalkerMary M. Shaffreyet al., Exploring Space: The High Frontier, Jones & Bartlett Learning, page 129
3. (possibly archaic outside astrology) The point, in any trajectory of an object in space, where it is farthest from the Earth.
4. (figurative) The highest point.
   Another manifestation, significantly reaching its apogee in the midst of Antonine virtues, was the growing popularity of adoxographical exercises. Mock panegyrics were dashed off, not just by sardonic intellectuals such as Lucian, but also by trained courtiers and polished encomiasts of the stamp of [Marcus Cornelius] Fronto. 1979, Carl Deroux, editor, Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History [Collection Latomus; 164], volume 1, Brussels: Latomus, →OCLC, page 111
   The cult of the chief executive reached its apogee in the nineteen-nineties, a period when C.E.O.s seemed not so much to serve their companies as to embody them. March 22 2004, The New Yorker
   The apogee of Ming China […] came in the half century following his [the Hongwu Emperor's] death. Of this period, the initial two decades were dominated by his son, the Yongle emperor (1360–1424), who was a much more successful Oriental version of Richard III. 15 September 2014, Martin Gayford, “There's more to Ming than a vase [print version: 16 August 2014, pp. R6–R7]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review)