Donna Patricia Summers, age 12, of Winston Salem, N.C., for her question:

Which heavenly body is closest to the Earth?

The nearest star to us is the glorious sun, which is at an average distance of almost 93 million miles. But there are many heavenly bodies other than the stars. There are planets and their satellites, asteroids and space-traveling meteors. Many of these lesser heavenly bodies are closer to us than the Sun. Meteors and asteroids sometimes come close enough to whack into our orbiting planet.

The heavenly body nearest to us on a regular basis is the moon. Its distance varies from 221,593 and 252,948 Miles. The Earth and its satellite are separated by an average distance of 238,840 miles. The paths of some of the little asteroids cross or come close to the orbit of the Earth. When the Earth and an asteroid happen to be at one of these intersections at the same time, the asteroid may come even closer to us than the moon.