This is an interesting link I found, reading it now:
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I will quote the text here too:
It's best to visit the link and view the animations/pictures though for an even better understanding, here is the text:
" Our Motion Through Space Isn't A Vortex, But Something Far More Interesting Starts With A Bang Ethan Siegel Senior Contributor Starts With A Bang Contributor Group Science The Universe is out there, waiting for you to discover it.
A depiction of the planets orbiting the Sun as they move through space is c orrect, but they don't 'trail behind' as certain non-scientific videos show .
A depiction of the planets orbiting the Sun as they move through space is c orrect, but they don't 'trail behind' as certain non-scientific videos show . DJ Sadhu / YouTube
There are a lot of moving parts to the Universe, as nothing exists in isola tion. There are literally trillions of large masses in our Solar System, al l orbiting around the galactic center on timescales of hundreds of millions of years. But there's a viral video, parts 1 and 2, that claims that as th e Solar System moves through the galaxy, it makes a vortex shape, pulling t he planets behind it as it does.
But our true cosmic address, and our real cosmic motion, is far more comple x and interesting than a mere model such as this. Which is fascinating, bec ause it's all governed by one simple law: General Relativity. On the larges t scales, it's only gravity that determines the motion of everything, inclu ding us, as we move through the Universe.
Qualitatively, the "vortex video" has a few things right. It shows the foll owing true facts:
The planets orbit the Sun, roughly in the same plane.
etween the galactic plane and the planetary orbital plane. The Sun appears to move up-and-down and in-and-out with respect to the rest of the galaxy as it revolves around the Milky Way.
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And those things are true. But none of them are true the way they?r e shown in the video. And that?s the important difference between q ualitative and quantitative. On the largest scales, it isn't just the Earth and the Sun that move, but t he entire galaxy and local group, as the invisible forces from gravitation in intergalactic space must all be added up together.
On the largest scales, it isn't just the Earth and the Sun that move, but t he entire galaxy and local group, as the invisible forces from gravitation in intergalactic space must all be added up together. NASA, ESA; Acknowledg ements: Ming Sun (UAH), and Serge Meunier PROMOTED UNICEF USA BrandVoice UNICEF Is Helping Children Driven Out Of School By Violence In Africa UNICEF USA BrandVoice Coming Up For Air: Sulawesi Earthquake and Tsunami One-Year Anniversary
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And quantitatively, we not only predict, but can measure, exactly how our m otion works. It isn't a vortex, but what it is, exactly, is fascinating.
Here we are, on planet Earth, which spins on its axis and revolves around t he Sun, which orbits in an ellipse around the center of the Milky Way, whic h is being pulled towards Andromeda within our local group, which is being pushed around inside our cosmic supercluster, Laniakea, by galactic groups, clusters, and cosmic voids, which itself lies in the KBC void amidst the l arge-scale structure of the Universe. After decades of research, science ha s finally put together the complete picture, and can quantify exactly how f ast we're moving through space, on every scale. Within the Solar System, Earth's rotation plays an important role in causin g the equator to bulge, in creating night-and-day, and in helping power our magnetic field that protects us from cosmic rays and the solar wind.
Within the Solar System, Earth's rotation plays an important role in causin g the equator to bulge, in creating night-and-day, and in helping power our magnetic field that protects us from cosmic rays and the solar wind. Steel e Hill / NASA
The planets both rotate on their axis and revolve around the Sun. Even thou gh you perceive yourself as stationary, we know ? at a cosmic level ? that simply isn't true. As the Earth rotates on its axis, it hur tles us through space at nearly 1700 km/hr for someone on the equator. That might sound like a big number, but relative to the other contributions to our motion through the Universe, it's barely a blip on the cosmic radar.
That?s not really all that fast, if we switch to thinking about it in terms of kilometers per second instead. The Earth spinning on its axis g ives us a speed of just 0.5 km/s, or less than 0.001% the speed of light. B ut there are other motions that matter more. The speed at which planets revolve around the Sun far exceeds the rotation speeds of any of them, even for the fastest ones like Jupiter and Saturn.
The speed at which planets revolve around the Sun far exceeds the rotation speeds of any of them, even for the fastest ones like Jupiter and Saturn. N ASA / JPL
Much like all the planets in our Solar System, Earth orbits the Sun at a mu ch speedier clip than its rotational speed. In order to keep us in our stab le orbit where we are, we need to move at right around 30 km/s. The inner p lanets ? Mercury and Venus ? move faster, while the outer w orlds like Mars (and beyond) move slower than this. The difference is sever e: Mercury makes about 4 orbits for every 1 of Earth's, and it takes Neptun e over 160 Earth orbits before it's completed even one revolution.
Moreover, as the planets orbit in the plane of the solar system, they chang e their direction-of-motion continuously, with Earth returning to its start ing point after 365 days. Well, almost to its same exact starting point. An accurate model of how the planets orbit the Sun, which then moves throug h the galaxy in a different direction-of-motion. Note that the planets are all in the same plane, and are not dragging behind the Sun or forming a wak e of any type.
An accurate model of how the planets orbit the Sun, which then moves throug h the galaxy in a different direction-of-motion. Note that the planets are all in the same plane, and are not dragging behind the Sun or forming a wak e of any type. Rhys Taylor
Because even the Sun itself isn?t stationary. Our Milky Way galaxy is huge, massive, and most importantly, is in motion. All the stars, planet s, gas clouds, dust grains, black holes, dark matter and more move around i nside of it, contributing to and affected by its net gravity. From our vant age point, some 25,000 light years from the galactic center, the Sun speeds around in an ellipse, making a complete revolution once every 220?
250 million years or so.
It?s estimated that our Sun?s speed is around 200?2
20 km/s along this journey, which is quite a large number compared both Ear th's rotation speed and its speed-of-revolution around the Sun, which are b oth inclined at an angle to the Sun's plane-of-motion around the galaxy. Th roughout it, though, the planets remain in the same plane, with no "draggin g" or vortex patterns emerging. Although the Sun orbits within the plane of the Milky Way some 25,000-27,00
0 light years from the center, the orbital directions of the planets in our Solar System do not align with the galaxy at all.
Although the Sun orbits within the plane of the Milky Way some 25,000-27,00
0 light years from the center, the orbital directions of the planets in our Solar System do not align with the galaxy at all. Science Minus Details /
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But the galaxy itself isn't stationary, but rather moves due to the gravita tional attraction of all the overdense matter clumps and, equally, due to t he lack of gravitational attraction from all of the underdense regions. Wit hin our local group, we can measure our speed towards the largest, massive galaxy in our cosmic backyard: Andromeda. It appears to be moving towards o ur Sun at a speed of 301 km/s, which means ?when we factor in the m otion of the Sun through the Milky Way ? that the local group's two most massive galaxies, Andromeda and the Milky Way, are headed towards eac h other at a speed of around 109 km/s. The largest galaxy in the Local Group, Andromeda, appears small and insigni ficant next to the Milky Way, but that's because of its distance: some 2.5 million light years away. It is moving towards our Sun, at the present mome nt, at around 300 km/s.
The largest galaxy in the Local Group, Andromeda, appears small and insigni ficant next to the Milky Way, but that's because of its distance: some 2.5 million light years away. It is moving towards our Sun, at the present mome nt, at around 300 km/s. ScienceTV on YouTube / Screenshot
The Local Group, as massive as it is, isn't completely isolated. The other galaxies and clusters of galaxies in our vicinity all pull on us, and even the more distant clumps of matter exert a gravitational force. Based on wha t we can see, measure, and calculate, these structures appear to cause an a dditional motion of approximately 300 km/s, but in a somewhat different dir ection than all the other motions, put together. And that explains part, bu t not all, of the large-scale motion through the Universe. There's also one more important effect at play, one that was quantified only recently: the gravitational repulsion of cosmic voids. The various galaxies of the Virgo Supercluster, grouped and clustered toget her. On the largest scales, the Universe is uniform, but as you look to gal axy or cluster scales, overdense and underdense regions dominate.
The various galaxies of the Virgo Supercluster, grouped and clustered toget her. On the largest scales, the Universe is uniform, but as you look to gal axy or cluster scales, overdense and underdense regions dominate. Andrew Z. Colvin, via Wikimedia Commons
For every atom or particle of matter in the Universe that clusters together in an overdense region, there's a region of once-average density that's lo st the equivalent amount of mass. Just as a region that's more dense than a verage will preferentially attract you, a region that's less dense than ave rage will attract you with a below-average amount of force. If you get a la rge region of space with less matter than average in it, that lack-of-attra ction effectively behaves as a repellent force, just as extra attraction be haves as an attractive one. In our Universe, opposite to the location of ou r greatest nearby overdensities, is a great underdense void. Since we're in between these two regions, the attractive and repulsive forces add up, wit h each one contributing approximately 300 km/s and the total approaching 60
0 km/s. The gravitational attraction (blue) of overdense regions and the relative r epulsion (red) of the underdense regions, as they act on the Milky Way.
The gravitational attraction (blue) of overdense regions and the relative r epulsion (red) of the underdense regions, as they act on the Milky Way. Yeh
rtois, Nature Astronomy 1, 0036 (2017)
When you add all of these motions together: the Earth spinning, the Earth r evolving around the Sun, the Sun moving around the galaxy, the Milky Way he aded towards Andromeda, and the local group being attracted to the overdens e regions and repulsed by the underdense ones, we can get a number for how fast we're actually moving through the Universe at any given instant. We fi nd that the total motion comes out to 368 km/s in a particular direction, p lus or minus about 30 km/s, depending on what time of year it is and which direction the Earth is moving. This is confirmed by measurements of the cos mic microwave background, which appears preferentially hotter in the direct ion we're moving, and preferentially colder in the direction opposite to ou r motion. The leftover glow from the Big Bang is 3.36 millikelvin hotter in one (the red) direction than average, and 3.36 millikelvin cooler in (the blue) the other than average. This is due to the total motion of everything through s pace.
The leftover glow from the Big Bang is 3.36 millikelvin hotter in one (the red) direction than average, and 3.36 millikelvin cooler in (the blue) the other than average. This is due to the total motion of everything through s pace. Delabrouille, J. et al.Astron.Astrophys. 553 (2013) A96
If we ignore the Earth's rotation and revolution around the Sun, we find th
n you throw in the motion of the local group, you get that all of it ? ? the Milky Way, Andromeda, the Triangulum galaxy and all the others ?
certainty, by the way, is mostly due to uncertainty in the Sun's motion aro und the galactic center, which is the most difficult component to measure. The relative attractive and repulsive effects of overdense and underdense r egions on the Milky Way. The combined effect is known as the Dipole Repelle r.
The relative attractive and repulsive effects of overdense and underdense r egions on the Milky Way. The combined effect is known as the Dipole Repelle
ne Courtois, Nature Astronomy 1, 0036 (2017)
We know exactly how the Earth moves through the Universe, and it's both bea utiful and simple. Our planet and all the planets orbit the Sun in a plane, and the entire plane moves in an elliptical orbit through the galaxy. Sinc e every star in the galaxy also moves in an ellipse, we see ourselves appea r to pass in-and-out of the galactic plane periodically, on timescales of t ens of millions of years, while it takes around 200-250 million years to co mplete one orbit around the Milky Way. The other cosmic motions all contrib ute, too: the Milky Way within the Local Group, the Local Group in our Supe rcluster, and all of it with respect to the rest-frame of the Universe.
The Solar System isn't a vortex, but rather the sum of all our great cosmic motions. Thanks to the incredible science of astronomy and astrophysics, w e at last understand, to tremendous precision, exactly what that is. "
Bye, Skybuck.