"In the case of the Earth and the sun, both bodies actually revolve, or spin, around the very center of the mass (similar to center of gravity) between them. This point is called the "barycenter." Earth and the sun are "connected" by the gravity pulling them together. It's just like the light end and heavy end of the sledge hammer. Compared to the size of the sun, Earth is about like a flea on a cat! So the center of mass between the Earth and the sun is almost--but not quite--the very center of the sun."
The Sun-Earth barycenter is about 449km from the center of the sun, much more than "a few feet".
2007-07-27 04:05:00
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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Actually, the wobble is significantly larger than "a few feet". The mass of the sun is about 2 x 10^30 kg, that of the earth 6 x 10^24 kg, and the radius of the Earth's orbit is about 150 x 10^6 km. From this, we can roughly calculate "the radius of the sun's orbit" as follows:
R = (6 x 10^24 kg) (150 x 10^6 km) / (2 x 10^30 kg) = 450 km, or about 270 miles.
It should be noted that the Earth is almost 4 times as dense as the Sun.
Also, because of the other planets orbiting the sun, the net wobble isn't as dramatic as "270 miles", as it sort of evens out.
2007-07-27 04:11:34
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answer #2
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answered by Scythian1950 7
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Yep, a little. Imagine a teeter-totter with the Earth on one side and the Sun on the other. The balance point would be inside the sun, but not quite at the sun's center. This point is the point they both orbit around. A telescope watching from another solar system far away would see the sun wobble back and forth every year. In this way, the watchers would know Earth exists and how big it is just from the wobble.
This is how we have been discovering exo-planets. We don't see the planet, we see the star wobble.
2007-07-27 04:01:54
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answer #3
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answered by Owl Eye 5
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The Planets are not really pulled by each other. For the Gravitational Phenomena is an external one ,which exists in Space as a Gravity Pressure acting on all Celestial Bodies.
Sun Wobbling? The Barry center of the Sun is the one that is wobbling. The reasons is that Gravity of the Sun is relative to that dynamic barrycenter between all the Planets all at the same time. The shape of the wobble is in a 3-D geometry.
The orbit of the Earth is offset not by a few feet but aprox 5 million kilometers relative to the center of its eliptical orbit around the Sun.
However;There is an effect of tidal force between the Earth and the Sun Just as there is between the Earth and the Moon.
Hence ,there is also a wobble on the Earth and it is on the basis of this wobble ,that astronomers discovered the variability of Latitude on Earth.
2007-07-27 04:21:22
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answer #4
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answered by goring 6
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Sun Wobble
2017-01-11 03:20:58
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answer #5
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answered by Anonymous
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The sun wobbles a little bit, but that wobble is most likely produced by the more massive gaseous planets in orbit around the sun. And the sun wouldn't move a few feet, the wobble you get is the sun being pulled slightly off it's axis of rotation.
If you imagine a top spinning, the top stands upright as it spins at first but then when it loses momentum it begins to wobble a little bit about the axis it's spinning on. When planetary gravity pulls a star off it's axis of rotation - that's your wobble.
2007-07-27 04:07:04
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answer #6
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answered by avaheli 3
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It's probably less than a few feet; Earth's pretty small, compared to the sun. But, yes - the sun is wobbling a little due to Earth's influence. Jupiter probably has a more noticible effect.
2007-07-27 03:58:48
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answer #7
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answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7
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they're the suitable option approximately there being no stress that brought about Earth to tilt 23 one million/2 levels on its axis. It in simple terms formed that way, and that's actual. The degree of tilt is continuous. As on your different question, sure and no. The earth isn't escaping from neither is it falling into the sunlight, yet its distance from the sunlight isn't consistent. simply by fact the orbit is elliptical, the earth does selection its distance from the sunlight slightly by the twelve months. that's at perihelion in January (closest factor to the sunlight) and at aphelion sometime in July, i think of..you may look this as much as be sure. the factor is that the earth isn't orbiting the sunlight in a suitable circle so it does selection slightly in its distance from the sunlight. all the planets do. whilst the earth is closest to the sunlight, it orbits slightly swifter than whilst that's at its farthest factor. lookup Kepler's regulations of Planetary action and you gets a designated clarification in case you like one. The moon is unlikely everywhere quickly, even though it additionally has an apogee (farthest factor from Earth) and a perigee. whilst the moon is in perigee, the full moon looks extra suitable. an thrilling phenomenon would take place throughout apogee. If there's a entire image voltaic eclipse on an analogous time as the moon is at apogee, the face of the moon looks smaller and it can't thoroughly cover the sunlight's photosphere as considered from Earth. This motives an annular eclipse, the place the outer ring of the photosphere maintains to be seen simply by fact the moon passes in front of it. lookup photographs; that's an thrilling sight.
2016-11-10 09:21:31
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answer #8
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answered by blaylock 4
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The sun and the earth orbit a common point in space and the point in space moves a bit as the distance changes.
If the earth gained in mass the common point would move away from the sun.
2007-07-28 02:19:23
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answer #9
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answered by Billy Butthead 7
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Everything with mass exerts a gravitational force on everything else with mass. Therefor the earth does exert force on the sun. However the friction of the hydrogen particles in space may counteract the earths pull, or even other planets pulling in the opposite direction. In summation, if the sun is wobbling, it is an insignificant amount, and most likely unmeasurable with our current technology.
2007-07-27 05:58:36
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answer #10
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answered by J-ROD 2
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