What is spinning around?

For a long time it was believed that the Earth is flat. Then came the doctrine of the geocentric system of the world, according to which the Earth is a round heavenly body and the center of the universe. The heliocentric system (model) of the world was proposed by the Polish astronomer Nikolai Copernicus in the 16th century. According to this theory, the Sun, and not the Earth, is the center of the universe. In modern astronomy, the geocentric system of the world explains the structure of our solar system, where the Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun.

But this is not the only "rotational motion"what is happening in space. To understand what is spinning around, we suggest that you understand the essence of the heliocentric system of the world and the structure of the solar system.

solar system

The solar system is one of the manystar-planetary systems of space. This is the system in which our planet Earth is located. The sun is the star, which is the center of the system. All planets and their satellites move along circular and elliptical orbits around this star.

This movement is due to the centrifugal lawThe force that holds the smaller celestial bodies (planets) next to the big body (star). In turn, the satellites of the planets also move around them according to the law of centrifugal force, and together with their planets they rotate around the Sun. In addition, both planets and their satellites also revolve around their own axis. More information on the rotation of our planet you can read in the articles Why the Earth rotates and How the Earth rotates.

Planets of the Solar System

All the planets of our system can be divided intointernal and external. This division is due to the relationship of the planets to the Earth. The inner planets (their two: Mercury and Venus) are closer to the Sun than our planet and revolve around it inside the Earth's orbit. They can be observed only at a small distance from the Sun. The remaining planets revolve around the Sun outside the Earth's orbit and are visible at any distances.

At a distance from the Sun, the planets are arranged in the following order:

1. Mercury;
2. Venus;
3. Earth;
4. Mars;
5. Jupiter;
6. Saturn;
7. Uranus;
8. Neptune.

Until recently, the composition of the planets Solarsystem was included and Pluto. However, according to recent studies, this celestial body was classified as a dwarf planet, part of a group of small planets of our system. Another known small planet of the solar system is Ceres. It is in the asteroid belt.

Planets revolve around the sun and aroundown axis. Time of revolution of the planet around the sun is 1 star year, and around its own axis - 1 star day. Each planet has a different rotational speed, both in orbit and around the axis. On some planets, the day lasts longer than a year.

Satellites of the planets and the asteroid belt

All planets of the solar system except Venus andMercury is a companion. These are celestial bodies that rotate in their orbits around the planets. The Earth has only one moon - the moon. The other planets have more satellites. Mars has 2, Neptune has 14, Uranus has 27, Saturn has 62, and Jupiter has 67.

In addition, such planets as Saturn, Jupiter,Uranus and Neptune have rings - belt belts surrounding the planet, consisting of ice particles, gas and dust. Both the satellites and the particles of the rings rotate around their planets, but along with them they rotate around the sun.

Between Mars and Jupiter is the asteroid belt- an accumulation of small bodies of the solar system moving around the Sun along a common orbit. Some asteroids also have their satellites revolving around them.

The sun

The sun is a star that is a centThe solar system. All the celestial bodies of this system (planets with their satellites, dwarf (small) planets, meteorites, asteroids with satellites, comets, meteorites and cosmic dust) revolve around the Sun.

Being the center of the solar system, the Sun is also notremains motionless. It, together with all the bodies rotating around it, moves along the ecliptic around the center of the galaxy, of which it is a part. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way and has the shape of a disk. So the Sun and other stars of the galaxy revolve around its core - the center. During its existence, the sun has made about 30 revolutions around the galaxy.

At the same time, relative to other stars, the Sun remains stationary, as they also rotate around the center of the galaxy.

But the Milky Way also revolves around more extensive space objects, united in a group called the Local Virgo Supercluster.

So everything in space around something and rotates. The moon around the Earth, the Earth around the Sun, the Sun around the nucleus of the galaxy, and so on. Such is the continuous cosmic whirlwind. And we are part of this whirlwind.