Why does the moon orbit earth and not something else?

Answer 1

In a manner of speaking, the moon does indeed orbit the sun in the Earth-moon system. The two bodies are both captured by the suns gravitational field, the moon is much smaller than the Earth, so Earth is the planet and the Moon is the moon or natural satellite of Earth. The Moon is in the Earths gravitational field, but then both are in the suns much larger gravitational field.

Answer 2

The Earth is the closest object with a greater mass and thus, gravitational pull, to the moon. Were a larger planet with greater mass cross paths with the earth and moon, the moon, and possibly the earth, would orbit around it.

Answer 3

Technically, the earth and moon both revolve around their common center of mass.

But since the earth has about 80 times as much mass as the moon has, their common center

of mass is actually inside the earth. That's why, if you watched the motions of the two bodies

from a seat located at the common center of mass, it would look to you as if the moon was

revolving around you in a large orbit, whereas the earth was barely wiggling.

Answer 4

Actually, in a way, it does. It primarily orbits the Sun; the Earth (which attracts the Moon stronger than the Sun) only changes the Moon's orbit around the Sun slightly. If you were to draw the Moon's orbit around the Sun to scale, the convex part of the curve is always towards the Sun.

Answer 5

The moon orbits the earth because earth has a strong gravitational pull. Every planet has a gravitational pull, but the amount depends on how big the planet is.