10 Well Known Facts You Thought Were True (That Actually Aren't)

8. The Earth Orbits The Sun

Our sun€™s own massive gravity keeps the planets of the solar system orbiting it. Everyone knows that, right? Well, €˜everyone€™ is not entirely correct on that one, unfortunately. The earth actually orbits the barycentre of the solar system, as does the sun itself. The only difference is that this barycentric coordinate €“ the place where the mass of the sun and the mass of the earth balance each other €“ is actually inside the sun itself, although it changes all the time. Why? Because other celestial objects €“ planets, other stars, galaxies, almost everything out there €“ with their own gravitational pull affect our orbit (as well as the sun€™s own orbit) rendering it an elliptical, constantly changing ovoid, not a perfect spherical shape. Not only that: the earth orbits where the barycentre was around eight minutes ago, because gravity works at roughly the speed of light. What does that actually mean for us? Well, have a look at the above image. That€™s roughly what the earth€™s orbit looks like. We orbit the sun in pretty much the same way that an excitable, yappy little dog on a leash orbits its harried owner.