Jupiter Is So Big That It Doesn't Technically Orbit The Sun
Well now that's interesting.
(Via Instapundit...yeah, yeah...so I sometimes read Instapundit. So sue me.)
(Via Instapundit...yeah, yeah...so I sometimes read Instapundit. So sue me.)
posted by Winston Smith at
11:10 PM
4 Comments:
Dude, that's completely and utterly weak.
Every set of objects in an orbit relationship has a barycenter and no barycenter is equal to the center of any of the individual objects. He points this out.
There is no requirement that the barycenter of an orbit relationship be within the physical boundary of one of those objects. That matter has no bearing on whether or not one of the objects is said to orbit the other, though one could say that the determination of the orbiting body versus the orbited body is made by comparative proximity to the barycenter. That rule would be why, say, Charon orbits Pluto; the barycenter is way closer to the midpoint of the distance between those two but you don't hear people complaining about Charon not technically being Pluto's moon because [insert arbitrary technical-sounding-but-inaccurate-requirement-here], do ya?
No. No you don't.
Lame. Lame, I say!
Why Jupiter Does Not Orbit The Sun
(With pictures!)
http://www.businessinsider.com/jupiter-does-not-orbit-the-sun-2016-7
http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/693961/Jupiter-the-sun-NASA-image-gif
Money quote:
"While all the other planets in the Solar System orbit the Sun, NASA claims that Jupiter and the critical energy source actually almost orbit each other."
i.e.: J and S (i) almost (ii) orbit each other.
Even if we ignore (i), seems like (ii) entails that Jupiter *does* orbit the Sun...though that's probably exactly the kind of philosophical fucking about that scientists would right wave away in annoyance...
There are cases in which we normally don't say aRb if aRb and bRa. It's kind of misleading, e.g., to say that A causes b (full stop) when, in fact, a and b actually influence each other.
The headline is wonky, but Jupiter's orbit *is* qualitatively distinct from the other planets' orbits. I didn't realize that. I find it interesting, and perhaps worthy of a news article.
MSN knows that titling the article "Jupiter is so big that its barycenter does not fall within the physical boundaries of the Sun-- unlike the other planets" wouldn't receive as many clicks.
Such is our age of sensationalism/yellow journalism.
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