Final answer:
The orbits of the planets around the Sun including Earth's are mostly elliptical and follow similar gravitational principles to the Moon's orbit around Earth. These orbits are influenced by the gravitational forces of the objects they orbit and by other celestial bodies, all operating within an ecliptic plane and following Newton's laws.
Step-by-step explanation:
If we consider a projectile falling around the Earth in orbit and the Moon orbiting the Earth, we can describe the orbits of the planets around the Sun in a similar manner. The planets, including Earth, follow trajectories around the Sun that are mostly circular, but are in fact elliptical as explained by Kepler's laws. This is analogous to the Moon's orbit around Earth. The ecliptic plane is the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun and most other planets follow orbits close to this plane.
There are specific points in these orbits, for instance, the perihelion where the orbiting body is closest to the Sun and the aphelion where it is the furthest. This is also true for the Earth and the Moon with their respective closest points termed the perigee and apogee. These orbits are not static; they are the result of the gravitational forces between the orbiting bodies and their central objects, and they are also influenced by the forces of other celestial bodies.
Lastly, the interaction of the Moon and the Earth is such that they both exert gravitational force on each other, following Newton's third law; this results in the Earth not remaining stationary as the Moon orbits around it, a concept that can be extrapolated to explain how the gravitational forces within the solar system affect the trajectories of planets around the Sun.