Planetary Orbits

All planets orbit the Sun in the same direction (counter-clockwise when viewed from above the North Pole), but at different speeds. The closer a planet is to the Sun, the faster it travels.

Earth completes one orbit in 365.25 days — one year. The Moon orbits Earth once every 27.3 days (sidereal month). Because Earth is also moving around the Sun during that time, the Moon takes about 29.5 days to return to the same phase.

The planets all orbit roughly in the same flat plane, called the ecliptic plane, which is why from Earth we see all the planets move along the same band of sky — the zodiac belt.