All the planets in the solar system orbiting the sun. Is our solar system itself orbiting something?

Question

What about the galaxy we're in, is it orbiting something as well?

Answer 1

Kind of... all the stars in the Milky Way are rotating around a giant black hole in the center of the galaxy.

But we're all going around at such a SLOW rate you really couldn't call it orbiting (most stars will die out before they make it around 1 time -that's like 10 billion years).

Some scientists even think that our sun is actually going to leave the Milky Way in the future, that we're slowing moving out.

By the way, there is no "center of the universe" as some people put it. When physicists talk about the universe expanding, they're saying the actual fabric of space is expanding from since the big bang. So if anyone asks you where the big bang occurred... it occurred EVERYWHERE.... Wrap your head aroudn that!!

A little off-point but other people brought it up.

Answer 2

You bring up an interesting point. Remember those pictures (derived from mathematical formulae) that became popular years ago called "Fractals"? You'd zoom in closer and closer, and the picutre would repeat itself infinitely. Personally, I'd guess that's the way our solar system AND galaxy function. I'm thinking we ARE orbiting something. As a Christian, I'm going to say we're orbiting God, for what Else could possibly be the center of the universe?
Excellent question, mate! Nice to hear a good question on here once in a while!

Answer 3

The Solar System orbits the Milky Way which theoretically is rushing away at an increasing rate from the center of the universe; it's point of origin during the Big Bang.

Answer 4

The sun orbits the center of the galaxy (as do the rest of the stars in our galaxy). The milky way doesn't orbit anything, it's moving away from the other galaxies due mostly to momentum leftover from the big bang.

Answer 5

1) the sun's gravity pulls all the planets and other objects toward it. But all the orbiting bodies have momentum and therefore their inertia does not allow them to fall toward the sun but merely orbit in a circle. 2) Yes, every object that has mass (no matter how big) will have an effect on the Earth. But the smaller an object is or the farther away it is the less that effect is. 3) as I said above, all other objects. Mars, Jupiter, comets, even other stars can have a minute effect. But the largest effect by far is by the sun.

Answer 6

our solar system itself, including the sun, is orbiting the center of the milky way galaxy (where there is a big black hole). since the universe is expanding, our galaxy is also moving away from the center of the universe. So the cosmologists and physicists believe at the current time!

Answer 7

our solar system orbits the sun, but it along with other solar systems all spin in an orbit within the milky way, and the universe is full of galaxys but the galaxies seem to spin like frizbies out there floating in the universe.

Answer 8

Yes, our solar system is orbiting our galaxy, the Milky Way about its center. We are therefore all moving at great speeds even though it feels so stationary.

Answer 9

our solar system is in the milkyway galaxy, there are many other solar syatems in this galaxy. but they have found that most galaxies orbit arround a center of a large amount of gravity caused by the collapse and implosion of a giant or super giant star (like our sun) which is also known as a black hole.

Answer 10

I guess the whole galaxy is spinning around some center point... After all, it is a spiral galaxy... I wonder how fast we are spinning and how fast the whole galaxy is traveling in whtever linear direction it is heading in and what would be the reference of comparison for calculating its relative speed....