Does SUN really move?

sandykulk

yes the sun both rotates and it moves in space.they figure the later by seeing the suns motion relative to neighbouring systems.

the only stupid question is the one not asked!!

Sandy,

The answer is more complex than it first appears. Mathematically one can move a reference system to wherever one wants and one could easily construct a theory where the Sun is stationary. That being said, such a theory would have to introduce many additional new forces and the equations of motion become more complex. The astronomer Gerardus Boew in fact does this with the Earth to maintain geocentric theory to support his Christian fundamentalism. In general most scientists tend to call the mathematically simplest theory the "real" situation.

hi north,jeremy

I was using a solar system simulator a while back and it showed that the sun seems to "wobble"-its equator moves up and down every few months/years. but the thing that intruiged me was that all the planets were also moving up and down in rythm with the plane of the suns equator-the same also happens with planets and their moons, although there are some that are not aligned correctly they still move up/down in sync with planets-could anyone tell me if this really happens?

note-inside the simulator i was watching the sun from several au above earth.

cheers