If the sun has such a great gravitational field that it can affect objects much further away than Pluto...?

Question

What kind of effect would the other planets have on our own orbit? It seems to me our orbit around the sun would have to be incredibly wobbly and unstable, yet it is always shown to be perfect. If any object with mass has gravity, wouldn't all those other planets and moons affect us more than they're given credit for? Even if the effect was minute, wouldn't it still be enough to throw all the planets off course in the long run?

Answer 1

The combined density and mass of all the other planets in our solar system aren't enough to have any effect on our orbital path given their distant proximities to Earth.

What we see when we observe the planets is the result of planetary evolution. Had say, Jupiter not formed at all, then the makeup of the Solar System would have been much different and very likely would not have been hospitible enough for us to have had a chance of coming into existence.

Answer 2

I may not be the best person to answer, but seeing as you have no one else responding yet.... :)

Yes, all objects have gravitational force, including you and me. However, the Sun is MUCH bigger than any of the other planets (look up how many [planet] can fit in the sun). Because of this and the fact that Gravitational force is a very weak force (compared to Electromagnetic force) the an object must be very big in order have much effect. Remember, the Sun is an averaged sized star, the others are just planets. Also, the larger planets in our solar system are gaseous and so have less mass than they would seem to have. I imagine the "perfect" representation of planetary orbits are just a simplification to avoid the minute pushes and pulls that are constantly occurring.

The Earth's orbit (and other planet's orbits) are not perfect. The Earth's is ellipitical, which, if I'm not mistaken, accounts for our seasons when combined with the tilt of Earth's axis. Also remember that the planets and Sun have had billions of years to get to a state of Equilibrium.

I hope that sheds some light on your question.

Answer 3

The other planets DO have an effect, of course. This effect is precisely equal to the mass of the planet times the mass of the earth divided by their distance squared. So does the moon and every other object with mass. What affects the orbits can be viewed either as a vector superposition of all these forces (the one from the sun being the largest), or (in general relativity terms), the resulting curvature of spacetime, which the earth follows. None of these gravitational effects are strong enough to throw the earth off course, but they have been measured and studied.

Answer 4

OK. the short version.

The suns gravity is MUCH larger than all the planets combined.

We orbit the Sun at a RELATIVELY similar distance at all times, so the Sun's influence is very continuous and very strong.

But the planets orbit the Sun too. And that means their effect rises and falls as they orbit closer or farther away from the Earth. So their effect is not very constant or very strong.

The orbits of the largest planets are so very far away that their real gravity is practically zip to us.

The idea that the planets affect the Earth (and more importantly people) is a holdover from an archaic folk-science called, astrology.

Answer 5

great gravitational fields decelerate time. In deep area there continues to be a tiny gravitational rigidity from distant galaxies yet in concept time might bypass with the aid of 'often' as there is not something to gradual it down. The results of removing the gravity of the Earth, Moon and solar on a clock would not be detectable without very precise atomic clock because of the fact the outcomes of the gravity is miniscule.

Answer 6

Some quick math shows that jupiter's effect (would be the largest) is very small. 1/16000 times smaller. 1000 is from the fact that its mass is 1000 times less, and the 16 due to the fact that jupiter is never more then four times the earth-sun distance from earth (4^2 gives 16).

As for throwing the planets off in the long run. It has been shown (see reference) that jupiter affects saturn by slowing it down and speeding it up. Before Newton this couldn't be explained, but Newtons las of gravity explains it.

But if saturn, or any planet, speed up, the orbital radius is just altered likewise if the planet is slowed down by another object it changes too. But since Jupiter is not in the same place wrt the earth and sun all the time, this effect would cancel out in the long run.

Answer 7

Planets can and do effect each other gravitationally. This is how Neptune was discovered. Uranus appeared to be moving faster than expected as if it were being pulled ahead, and then as it passed Neptune, it appeared that it was being pulled from behind. This gave astronomers a hint as to where to look for a new planet and they found Neptune.

Answer 8

Ultimately it's the resultant of these forces that matter. Plus newtonian mechanics doesn't exactly apply at speeds approachin that of light. Relativistic mechanics is what applies.