How the moon orbits the earth

I would love to help you explore how the Moon travels around us! To make sure we hit the perfect level of detail, how much do you already know about gravity, and is there a specific question about the Moon's path that brought you here today?

I am a beginner and just want a simple overview.

It is great to have you here! Let's start with a simple overview of how our neighbor travels through space.

Your path

The Moon's Orbital Timing

Moon Phases and Orbital Position

The Ultimate Cosmic Tug-of-War

To understand how the Moon travels around us, we have to look at the invisible cosmic glue holding it all together: . Imagine you are spinning a ball on a string around your head. The string keeps the ball from flying off into the yard, while the ball's speed keeps it from crashing into your hand. In space, gravity acts just like that invisible string. Earth's massive weight creates a pull that constantly tugs on the Moon. At the same time, the Moon is trying to zip forward in a straight line out into deep space. Because of these two competing forces, the Moon gets trapped in a beautiful middle ground. It constantly falls toward Earth but keeps missing us because of its forward speed.

Continue to see what a regular, repeating orbit looks like

Now let's zoom in on what that regular path actually looks like. An is simply the regular, repeating path that an object in space takes around another one.

The elliptical orbital path of the Moon around Earth, showing its instantaneous linear velocity vector tangent to the orbit.

I am generating a quick visual for you to see this in action. In space, because there is almost nothing to slow the Moon down, it can follow this same track over and over for billions of years without needing an engine.