NASA Reveals New Facts: Earth Does Not Actually Orbit the Sun

The common understanding that Earth and other planets in the Solar System orbit the Sun is technically not how the system works. According to Kepler’s third law, the relationship between the masses of two mutually rotating bodies determines orbital parameters. In the Solar System, while the Sun’s mass is 1,048 times that of Jupiter, gravity is a two-way interaction. NASA explains the concept of a barycentre, where two bodies of vastly different mass orbit a common centre of mass, independent of the size of the objects involved. “Motion around a barycentre with massive planets is one method used to find planetary systems around distant stars,” NASA stated. In our Solar System, the barycentre is usually near the Sun due to its enormous mass, but the gravitational pull of Jupiter and Saturn means this point is rarely inside the Sun itself. Therefore, Earth does not orbit a point within the Sun, but rather a point outside it. Planetary astronomer and science communicator James O’Donoghue confirmed this, stating, “Generally, planets orbit the Sun, but technically, they do not orbit the Sun because the main gravitational influence comes from Jupiter, meaning planets orbit a new point in space.” He added that the Solar System’s centre of mass rarely aligns with the Sun. A similar phenomenon occurs with planets and their moons; for instance, the Moon does not orbit the exact centre of the Earth, but a point approximately 5,000 kilometres from Earth’s centre, a distance that continuously changes as the Moon moves further away.