Off-kilter
For the first time, scientists have managed to find the precise center of gravity of our solar system up to about 100 meters, an amazingly accurate measurement on the scale of our vast solar system.
Sounds like a trivial feat: think about the posters hanging in your classroom and you could reasonably assume that the center of our solar system is right in the middle of the Sun. But finding the gravitational center, its barycenter, in the lingo, is actually a complex task, Science alert That means taking into account the attraction of every planet, asteroid, and moon in the star system.
Slight drift
By all gravitational pulls, especially Jupiter’s particularly strong pull, the actual center of gravity in our solar system lies just above the surface of the Sun, according to research published in The astrophysical journal.
With that knowledge in hand, astronomers can more precisely search for gravitational waves emitted by distant supermassive black holes and pulsars, Science alert reports. This is because these measurements are extremely error sensitive and depend on us knowing where the Earth is in relation to the barycenter of the solar system.
Spider verse
Now armed with a better understanding of the balance of the solar system, scientists hope their gravitational recordings will suddenly improve.
“Using the pulsars we observe in the Milky Way galaxy, we are trying to be like a spider sitting in stillness in the middle of its web,” said NASA astronomer Stephen Taylor in a press release. “How well we understand that the barycenter of the solar system is critical when we try to feel even the smallest tingling on the web.”
READ MORE: Astronomers have located the center of the solar system within 100 meters[[[[Science alert]
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