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Solar System Movement in the Galaxy
"J. M." wrote:
I knew the Earth and the other planets moved around the sun in orbit. What I didn't know was that the Solar System is also in orbit around something. Along with everything else in the galaxy, it is in orbit around the center of the galaxy. Am I correct? Yes. The Voyager spacecraft is not in orbit around the sun. From what I understand it is moving away from the sun at a constant speed in one direction. But for some reason, it moves with the sun around the galaxy? Why is that? Like everything else in the galaxy, it continues to be affected by the combined gravitational attraction of the objects in it. Since it started out with more or less the same velocity as the sun, and isn't travelling terribly fast -- comparatively speaking -- its orbit around the galactic centre will remain similar to the sun's. This goes on and on and one day Voyager will leave the solar system. From what I read, before leaving the solar system, the spacecraft will go through something called the heliopause. Is that when the sun will stop having effect on Voyager? Right now, Voyager, with the solar system, is in orbit around the galaxy center. When Voyager leaves the Solar System (goes through the heliopause), will the Solar System continue its orbit around the galaxy center without Voyager or will Voyager continue to move around the galaxy center with us forever? The heliopause is the boundary around the 'bubble' created by the solar wind, so once Voyager has passed outside it will truly be in interstellar space. But the sun's gravity will continue to influence it slightly, gradually tapering off as the probe moves further away but with no 'cutoff point'. See http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020624.html. If Voyager stops orbiting around the galaxy center, does that mean that at that point, the distance between Earth and Voyager will start growing even faster, because we would be going in one direction and Voyager in another? We are already, but only to a very slight extent on the scale of stellar motions. Barring a 'near miss' with another body that might perturb the galactic orbits, Voyager will be travelling more or less 'alongside' the solar system for millions of years. --Odysseus |
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