Re: VERY OT--political note(please ignore if you think it's too OT)

On 7 Nov, 06:11, Nick Cramer <n_cramerS...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Ozgirl" <are_we_there_...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Peter C wrote:
On 5 Nov, 18:41, "Michelle C" <bookbug...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I really don't see how people can funtion without knowing where
nations, cities, etc. are located. To me, that's like failing to
understand the Earth circles the sun.

The Earth doesn't circle the Sun - both the Earth and the Sun orbit
the centre of gravity of the Solar System.

Orbit is the correct word  but the earth DOES orbit the sun.

Actually, Ozgirl, Peter is quite correct. Similarly, the Moon doesn't orbit
the Earth. They both orbit the center of mass of the Earth-Moon system.

Spot on Nick. All the bodies in the Solar System orbit the centre of
gravity of the Solar System ( even the Sun ). Since the Sun accounts
for 99% of the mass of the Solar System the centre of gravity of the
Solar System is deep inside the Sun - offset from the centre of the
Sun by several hundred/thousand miles. So bodies like the Earth have
to go the long way round the centre of gravity and that gives rise to
the optical illusion or metaphorical/everyday/poetic explanation that
the Earth is orbiting the Sun.
The Sun just wobbles on its axis as it orbits the centre of gravity of
the Solar System. The wobble isn't really apparent to us but aliens
light years away might be able to detect it and could deduce from the
wobble that the Sun had a retinue of planets.Perhaps that's why the
Roswell chaps turned up :-)
The Moon is too big and too close to be regarded as a satellite of the
Earth, most astronomers now describe the Earth-Moon system as a Double
Planet.
And of course nothing "circles" the Sun - all(?) the orbits are
elliptical, including the Earth's.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Aberation and the Speed of Gravity
    ... Centrifugal force is based on treating a Rotating Frame of Reference as if ... earth moving in a straight line and gravity can ONLY act perpendicular ... GR uses the "apparent" position of the Sun ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: OT for Bill Sloman
    ... Assuming the possibility of debris belts the Solar System ... they would not bother the sun or Jupiter very much. ... smaller objects that may one day come close to the Earth. ... They saw a bright evening comet very ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Friar Broccoli exhibits honesty in the issue of whether the
    ... Then you need to explain why the earth and the moon behave completely ... Then why do all the other planets in our solar system behave as if it ... After all about 99.9% of the mass of the solar system is in the sun. ... Moons orbit Jupiter and together that planetary group orbit the sun. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Tonys heliocentrism is perversity-like
    ... Tony posits a counterbalancing mass (unimaginably enormous, ... to act at a tremendous distance) that tracks the motion of the Sun, ... but on the opposite side of Earth. ... Newton's law of gravity doesn't ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Geocentric challenge - More Earth Rotation Dynamics
    ... Earth rotates that have not been mentioned before. ... What about the relative gravity between the sun and the earth? ... the only way that the sun would orbit ... Al you can observe are motions. ...
    (talk.origins)