The Moon orbits around the Earth. ... To keep the Moon moving in that circle--rather than wandering off--the Earth must exert a pull on the Moon, and Newton named that pulling force gravity . ... If it was the same force, then a connection would exist between the way objects fell and the motion of the Moon around Earth, that is, its distance and orbital period. ... Newton went further and proposed that gravity was a "universal" force, and that the Sun's gravity was what held planets in their orbits. ...