Animation of the Moon磗 orbit around Earth. 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.