Animation of the Moon磗 orbit around Earth, with the phase seen at upper left. The concentric rings mark out 50,000_mile increments from Earth. The Moon磗 orbit is elliptical rather than circular, and its distance from Earth varies from around 225,350 miles at its closest perigee, open circle at bottom to some 251,960 miles at its furthest apogee, closed circle at top. The Moon takes just less than 28 days to complete one orbit. The phase of the Moon depends on the angle between the Sun, Earth and Moon, as seen. The Sun is out of frame at the bottom in this animation.