Contrary to what we all know, the fifth planet in our solar system – Jupiter – has an orbit that never revolves around the Sun.
We still know that the solar system has a total of eight planets (after Pluto was taken off the list in 2006). These eight planets, including Earth, have orbits around the system’s host star – the Sun itself.
However, it turns out that our knowledge is seriously flawed. According to NASA, Jupiter – the fifth planet does not revolve around the Sun. It is also the only planet in the solar system to have this phenomenon.
But why?
Basically, when an object revolves around a larger object, the object does not actually have a perfectly circular orbit. In contrast, the two objects move around the center of their gravity.
The reason why planets like Earth are considered to have orbits around the Sun is that they all have very different sizes. The size is so different that the center of gravity is extremely close to the center of the Sun, so this phenomenon cannot be recognized.
But Jupiter is different. With a mass of over 2.5 times all other planets combined, it is a giant planet.
This giant makes the center of gravity between them no longer at the center of the Sun, but at about 7% of the radius of the star’s surface. We will call it point A.
In other words, Jupiter (and the Sun as well) orbiting point A.
However, do not think that our Sun is small because of this phenomenon. Although Jupiter is a giant planet, large enough to orbit beyond the Sun, its size is only a fraction. It is estimated that the mass of the Sun is 1048 times greater than Jupiter!
Business Insider
