Gravity plays a crucial role in keeping objects in orbit around larger celestial bodies such as planets or moons. An orbit is the path followed by an object in space as it revolves around another object under the influence of gravity.

Imagine a scenario where you throw a ball horizontally from a hill. Initially, the ball will move forward due to the force you applied, but gravity will pull it downward. Combining these two forces, the ball follows a curved trajectory and eventually hits the ground. This curved path, if the ball had enough horizontal velocity, would have been its orbit around the Earth.

The force of gravity constantly curves the path of the object in motion, causing it to fall towards the celestial body being orbited. However, the object's forward motion prevents it from falling directly into the body. As a result, the object maintains a stable orbit around the larger body.