The Moon's orbit around Earth has many variations ( perturbations) due to the gravitational attraction of the Sun and planets, the study of which ( lunar theory) has a long history. The properties of the orbit described in this section are approximations. The Moon's orbital plane is inclined by about 5.1° with respect to the ecliptic plane, whereas the Moon's equatorial plane is tilted by only 1.5°. The Moon differs from most satellites of other planets in that its orbit is close to the ecliptic plane instead of to its primary's (in this case, Earth's) equatorial plane. With a mean orbital velocity around the barycentre between the Earth and the Moon, of 1.022 km/s (0.635 miles/s, 2,286 miles/h), the Moon covers a distance approximately its diameter, or about half a degree on the celestial sphere, each hour. On average, the distance to the Moon is about 385,000 km (239,000 mi) from Earth's centre, which corresponds to about 60 Earth radii or 1.282 light-seconds. Earth and the Moon orbit about their barycentre (common centre of mass), which lies about 4,670 km (2,900 mi) from Earth's centre (about 73% of its radius), forming a satellite system called the Earth–Moon system. The Moon orbits Earth in the prograde direction and completes one revolution relative to the Vernal Equinox and the stars in about 27.32 days (a tropical month and sidereal month) and one revolution relative to the Sun in about 29.53 days (a synodic month). While angles and relative sizes are to scale, distances are not.

Diagram of the Moon's orbit with respect to the Earth.

Lunar fases