Strictly speaking, Earth is not revolving around the Sun currently. Here's what it means

It has been taught to us from school days that Earth orbits around the Sun, which results in the cycle of day and night.

However, if we try to understand the movement of Earth currently in the Solar System from the point of view of scientists,our planet is not currently orbiting the Sun.

So, what's happening between Earth and the Sun?

Add WION as a Preferred Source

In the Solar System, the Sun is the largest object and has 1,048 times the mass of Jupiter. However, the gravitational pull which Earth exerts on the celestial body is exerted in the same or smaller amount on the planet.

"Kepler's third law describes the relationship between the masses of two objects mutually revolving around each other and the determination of orbital parameters,"explained NASA.

Also Read:House for astronauts? Indian startup discusses launch of 'space habitat' by 2027 with SpaceX

"Consider a small star in orbit about a more massive one. Both stars actually revolve about a common centre of mass, which is called thebarycentre. This is true no matter what the size or mass of each of the objects involved. Measuring a star's motion about its barycenter with a massive planet is one method that has been used to discover planetary systems associated with distant stars," it added.

So, Earth orbits a barycentre and not exactly the Sun. Generally, the barycentre of the bodies in the Solar System is near the Sun, however, because of the mass, and influence of gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and orbits, it is rarely inside the Sun.

Where is the barycentre currently?

Currently, the barycentre is outside the Sun and not inside it and hence, Earth is not currently orbiting it. So, the planet is revolving around a point in space and not the Sun.

Explaining this positioning of the planet, planetary astronomer and science communicatorJames O'Donoghue said, "Planets orbit the Sun in general terms", "but *technically* they don't orbit the Sun alone because the gravitational influence of (mainly) Jupiter means planets must orbit a new point in space."

"The planets do orbit the Sun of course, we are just being pedantic about the situation," headded. "The natural thinking is that we orbit the Sun's centre, but that very rarely happens, i.e. it's very rare for the solar system's centre of mass to align with the Sun's centre," he added.

Watch:Indian astronauts to train at NASA from August

This also applies to the smaller objects, like theplanets and their moons.

The Earth and Moon orbit a point which is 5,000 kilometres(3,100 miles) from the Earth's centre, however, this keeps changing as the Moon slowly moves away from the Earth.

(With inputs from agencies)