Posted on 01/04/2019 12:07:50 PM PST by LibWhacker
On January 3rd, 2019, Earth reached the point in its orbit where it's at its closest approach to the Sun: perihelion. Every object orbiting a single mass (like our Sun) makes an ellipse, containing a point of closest approach that's unique to that particular orbit, known as periapsis. For the past 4.5 billion years, Earth has orbited the Sun in an ellipse, just like all the other planets orbiting their stars in all the other mature solar systems throughout the galaxy and Universe.
But there's something you may not expect or appreciate that nevertheless occurs: Earth's orbital path doesn't remain the same over time, but spirals outward. This year, 2019, our perihelion was 1.5 centimeters farther away than it was last year, which was more distant than the year before, etc. It's not just Earth, either; every planet drifts away from its parent star. Here's the science of why.
The force responsible for the orbits of every planet around every solar system in the Universe is the same: the universal law of gravitation. Whether you look at it in terms of Newton, where every mass attracts every other mass in the Universe, or in terms of Einstein, where mass-and-energy curves the fabric of spacetime through which other masses travel, the largest mass dominates the orbit of everything it influences.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
All planets? Even Uranus?
Good episode.
Trump did it!
Same goes for the Moon and Earth. Our moon is moving away from Earth at about an inch per year. Stuff changes. Like the climate on this planet. Been happening for a verrrry long time.
Its the Trump plan to kill the planet and wipe out all life in the Universe.
“...Earth Is Drifting Away From The Sun, And So Are All The Planets...”
OMG... quick, pass a law taking away something from people to STOP this... And it’s Trump’s fault as well....
We “have to DO something!!!!” to stop this...
/s
That’s about how fast the moon is inching away. Might be in cahoots.
I knew about the Moon getting further away from the Earth 4 centimeters a year so this is not a big surprise.
Sunshade, gravity tractor, and only 800 million years to move the Earth to a significantly higher orbit. The Sun’s continues to slowly increase it’s output.
Why are people worrying about the earth and the sun drifting apart? Don’t they realize that Guam could flip over at any moment? And then, what’s to stop North America from following suit?
... which is really just noise compared to the size of the Solar System. It does reinforce the concept that nothing stays fixed. There is always change.
It is also interesting that the Solar System rotation within the Milky Way wobbles at a periodic rate. We pass through the plane of the galaxy roughly every 37 million years or so. Impact craters recorded worldwide show correlations with the 37 million year-cycle of these journeys through the galactic plane including the vast impact craters thought to have put an end to the dinosaurs two cycles ago.
Just food for thought since they are a long way from figuring this stuff out.
Women and children will be hurt most.
Obviously Trump’s fault.
No, he is right... cause as the sun gets older it will expand and swallow the planet.
This is nothing. Continents move 2.5 cm per year. Fortunately, there is nowhere for them to go (except to maybe reunite as Pangaea). As others have noted, the first 3 planets will likely be engulfed before they get far. Mars may be a flaming marshmallow for a while and then a loose snowball for the rest of its lifetime.
No truly circular orbits possible due to mass concentration anomalies!
You’re right, it’s four centimeters per year. I’m going to miss the old guy.
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Science comes as a surprise to some here ...
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