this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2025
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i mean, with that logic, nothing orbits anything
You're not wrong. Everything orbits the center of mass of the system, meaning the mass of the star and the body in orbit. And that is handy for astronomers, many exoplanets have been found using the Doppler spectroscopy method. Doppler spectroscopy measures the Doppler shift in the star's light as it is pulled towards and away from us by planets in orbit. The newest spectrographs are sensitive enough to detect a star's wobble caused by an Earth sized body in orbit. The barycenter is still within the star, but not at the center of the star's mass.
Fun fact: You actually pull the Earth up with the same force it pulls you down.. Newton’s Third Law.
I've been told that certain peoples mothers happen to pull the earth with a bit more force than others.
Thats a pretty thick attraction. Newtons 7. Street Law.
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For most bodies the barycenter, while not the same as the center of mass, is still inside the sun. This one isn't, making it notable
No, this is actually really relevant. This is part of the logic applied to labeling Pluto a dwarf planet. Pluto and it's moon do this, Earth and our moon do not. Yes, obviously the center of mass of the two isn't the exact center of the earth but it's still within the earth.
but the density of an object is variable. i mean you can define the diffrence between an orbit and a co-spiral to be based on the physical size of the denser planetary body containing the orbit center point, though that seems arbitrary.
Asking a physicist about the center of an object is like asking a Tumblr user about thr color of the sky. The only response will be "which one?" And a sigh of exhaustion
Center of volume ≠ center of mass ≠ center of systemic gravity ≠ center of lift…
Not to mention "an object" is just a construct describing a collection of molecules that themselves don't necessarily sit still or all stick around.