Astronomy doubt?

Question

I was sitting in my porch watching all the stars and wondered:
if the moon goes around the earth and the earth goes around the sun
Does our galaxy go around something? and if it does, what is it called?

Answer 1

The Great Attractor (surprising how these astrophysicists, usually calm people, come up with these names).

However, it is not really going 'around' it, as the orbit is irregular and way too eccentric (it is more like: 'we are going in that direction', rather than we are going around it)

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Earth and Moon orbit around their common centre of gravity (located well inside Earth). 1 month

Moon&Earth orbit around the Sun. (1 year)

The Sun orbits around the Galactic Centre (230 million years or so).

The Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy are 'in orbit' around the centre of gravity of the Local Group. However, the orbit is too eccentric and the two galaxies will begin to merge in 6 billion years (or so). The combo will become a giant elliptical galaxy... eventually. This will be at the time that our Sun will puff up into a red giant (give or take a billion years).

The local Group is affected by the Great Attractor, a supercluster (a cluster of cluster of galaxies) located in the direction of the constellation Centaurus. A little over 200 million light years away. It will take us a while to get there, especially given that we are presently moving in the direction of the constellation Hydra (the female water snake), under the influence of the Virgo cluster. We may merge with the Virgo cluster on our way towards the Great Attractor.

Answer 2

The motions are more complex than even that.

The sun with its retinue of planets moves within an arm of the galaxy. It also oscillates up and down within that galactic arm.

Then the whole galaxy rotates, and the galaxy moves in concert with a local group.

Then of course there is a general movement with the expansion of the universe.

There will be more that scientists are not aware of.

Good question.

Answer 3

our galaxys strongest gravitational interactions are within the local group of galaxies, the closest ones to us are the small and large maggenallinic clouds, however they are not very massive so they have minimall influence on the milkyway. on the otherhand the andromeda galaxy is very massive and is heading right for the milkyway, if these two galaxies werent headed straight for eachother they would orbit eachother in a near miss. so if you want to think about what our galaxy is orbiting then you would have to say that it was orbiting about the center of the local group of galaxies and all these galaxies are orbiting the much larger group of galaxies called the virgo cluster. everything is orbiting something and dont let anyone tell you any differently. hope this helped!!!!!

Answer 4

Our galaxy is one of the largest galaxies in the local group; a group of about 30 or so galaxies which slowly have gravitational interactions with each other. But at that scale, you can really take anything for a reference point, so you might as well say that our galaxy is stationary and everything else is moving.

Answer 5

Well, our arm of the galaxy rotates around the center of the galaxy. It takes about 290 million years for the sun to make one complete orbit around the center of the galaxy.

But the Milky way (our galaxy) doesn't orbit around anything. It just sorta drifts through space.

Answer 6

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, does not revolve around any object. However, it does rotates, so our Solar System revolves the Milky Way about once every 300 millions years.

Answer 7

The universe.

Answer 8

No guys, galaxies are moving away from each other. Thats how we suggested that whole big bang theory-remember?!
The light coming from other galaxies is red-shifted, thats how we know.
Space in between galaxies is multiplying, if you will.