The Planets Of The Solar System Do Not Revolve Around The Sun! - Alternative View

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The Planets Of The Solar System Do Not Revolve Around The Sun! - Alternative View
The Planets Of The Solar System Do Not Revolve Around The Sun! - Alternative View

Video: The Planets Of The Solar System Do Not Revolve Around The Sun! - Alternative View

Video: The Planets Of The Solar System Do Not Revolve Around The Sun! - Alternative View
Video: Year On Every Planet In Solar System || (Revolution Time Around The Sun) 2024, March
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The Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun - this is a well-known fact, and no one would think of doubting this statement. However, scientists today insist that in fact everything in the solar system revolves around the so-called "center of mass", including the sun itself! What does it mean?

The sun is known to be the center of the solar system, around which eight planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, several meteorites and a couple of distant comets revolve. This is what we know from school. We can say that this is a kind of irrefutable truth, since scientists at one time proved that the Earth is not the center of the Universe, and that the Earth, like the rest of the planets, revolves around the Sun.

By the way, this is true, but with some reservations. In fact, everything in the solar system revolves around the so-called "solar system center of mass", including the sun itself. Scientists have recently covered this in a series of videos. What secrets did they reveal?

Rotation around the center of mass

The center of mass, or barycenter, around which various planets and celestial bodies revolve in our solar system, is the point at which an object is perfectly balanced, with all of its mass evenly distributed on all sides. By the way, sometimes the center of mass is directly in the middle of the object.

For example, you can easily find the center of mass of a ruler. Try placing the ruler on your finger and aligning it so that it rests comfortably on your finger and does not fall. This way you will find a place on the ruler, thanks to which you can hold it with just one finger. This is the center of mass or, as it is also called, the center of gravity.

In our solar system, the center of mass rarely coincides with the center of the sun. This means that all bodies in the solar system do not revolve around the center of the sun. Of course, the planets revolve around the sun, but here we will talk about the exact position and true center around which all objects in the solar system revolve.

Promotional video:

To prove this fact, JAXA planetary scientist James O'Donoghue created an animation that shows the Sun, Saturn and Jupiter playing tug-of-war around the barycenter, causing the Sun to move in looping mini-orbits.

In his spare time, a planetary scientist creates animations that clearly demonstrate how planets, stars and the speed of light work from a physics point of view. According to him, it is natural to think that we revolve around the center of the Sun, but this very rarely happens, since the center of mass of the Solar system rarely coincides with the center of the Sun, and the Sun itself rotates millions of kilometers around the barycenter, sometimes passing over it, sometimes deviating from it …

The center of mass of the solar system does not coincide with the center of the sun

The question is: why does the center of mass of the solar system not coincide with the center of the sun, although the absolute majority of the mass of the solar system belongs to the sun? Logically, the center of the sun should coincide with the barycenter of the solar system, because the overwhelming part of the mass of the solar system falls on it - 99.8%.

In fact, Jupiter and its gravity are to blame. As we discussed earlier, the Sun makes up 99.8% of the mass of the Solar System, but Jupiter contains most of the remaining 0.2%. This mass causes a gravitational attraction, gently pulling the Sun away from the barycenter of the Solar System, which should just coincide with the center of the Sun.

We can say that the Sun revolves slightly around Jupiter. In other words, the statement that the planets revolve around the stars is not an immutable truth, since the planets and stars revolve around their own barycenter.

What is the center of mass?

In astronomy, the center of mass or barycenter is the center of mass of two or more bodies that revolve around each other, that is, the point around which these objects revolve. It is an important concept in fields such as astronomy and astrophysics.

If one orbiting body is larger than the other, and their bodies are relatively close to each other, then the barycenter will usually be within the larger object.

In this case, instead of two bodies rotating around a point between them, a less massive object will rotate around a more massive one. At the same time, you will notice that the heavier body will wiggle slightly. The same is the case with the Earth-Moon system, since the center of mass is at a distance of 4691 km from the center of the Earth, which is only 75% of the Earth's radius (6378 km).

The Earth and the Moon perform a simpler dance, while the barycenter remains within the Earth. Incidentally, they do not correspond to the real center of the Earth due to the gravity of the Moon, which slightly attracts the Earth.

When two bodies have the same mass, the barycenter, as a rule, will be located between them, and both bodies will rotate around it. This is the case with Pluto and its companion Chiron, as well as with many binary asteroids and stars. Within the solar system, a similar phenomenon can be observed among many planets and their satellites.

Incidentally, Pluto performs a special dance with its companion Chiron, but there is one difference, which is that the barycenter is always outside Pluto.

When a less massive object is at a great distance, then the barycenter may be outside the larger object. This is the case with Jupiter and the Sun. Despite the fact that the Sun is a thousand times larger than Jupiter, the barycenter is located outside the Sun due to the relatively large distance between them.

Ultimately, each planetary system revolves around an invisible point, which is in the center.

The importance of the center of mass for scientists

The barycenter sometimes helps astronomers find hidden planets orbiting other stars, since it is very difficult to immediately determine the location of exoplanets. They are usually obscured by the glare of stars orbiting the center of mass.

By the way, thanks to the wobble of stars, scientists can establish the existence of a planet. And by studying barycenters and using many other methods, astronomers have already been able to detect many planets orbiting other stars.

In astronomy, there are so-called "barycentric coordinates", that is, the coordinates of a point relative to the coordinate system, the origin of which is at the center of gravity of the system. The International Celestial Coordinate System (ICRS) uses a barycentric coordinate system that focuses on the center of the solar system, locating its objects.