The information in all of my articles is what I have gained by reading many books on the subject. I won't pretend to be an expert, but I hope you will find my short reads interesting — British spelling.
In astronomy, the barycenter is the centre of mass of two or more bodies that orbit one another. A simple explanation would be that it is a balancing act.
Look at the image above. You can see that the point where the two objects balance is closer to the one with the most mass. It is the same with objects in space like stars and planets. That balancing point is called the barycenter.
Jupiter is the largest by far among the eight planets in the Solar System, with much more mass.
Jupiter is very far from the barycenter, and the Sun is very close, which makes the Sun wobble slightly as Jupiter and the Sun travel around or orbit that imaginary point.
The rest of the planets in the Solar System will have their barycenter somewhere between the Sun's centre and its surface.
One way for Astronomers to discover giant exoplanets is to look for stars that wobble as they move around their barycenter. Many large exoplanets have been found using this method.
Exoplanets are planets that are outside the Solar System.
The barycenter for the Earth and the Moon is situated inside the Earth at roughly 4,670 kilometres from its centre.
YOU ARE READING
The Amazing Universe
Non-FictionRandom articles about that gargantuan area we call the Universe. They may stir your imagination, some will amaze you.
