Question

One of the most seemingly obvious things in all of our experiences is that the Earth is still and the Sun moves across the sky. And yet, we are told by science, that the Earth is moving not the Sun. How is it that scientists are so certain about this? This is not a quiz! How do you think this certainty came about?

Answer 1

One of the most seemingly obvious things in all of our experiences is that the Earth is still and the Sun moves across the sky. And yet, we are told by science, that the Earth is moving not the Sun. How is it that scientists are so certain about this? This is not a quiz! How do you think this certainty came about?

Following observations can help us understand that earth is not still and infact moving round the sun.

1. As we know the length of day on Earth is 24 hours i.e. if we presume sun is moving around earth then it is the time period of sun. I don’t think we can use it to explain the visibility of sun from North or south pole in the manner we do at present. Also the manner in which the setting and rising of sun from different direction in the different seasons.
2. If the Earth is moving around the Sun then the stars should appear to shift their positions due to this orbital motion (called stellar parallax). This shift is very slow but very convincing If one studies the night sky maps of over the years and even centuries at a particular place one can make out that earth is infact moving.
3. In an Earth-centered reference frame the sun rotates about the Earth, but, the other planets do not have orbits around the Earth. From a sun-centered reference frame all planets revolve around the sun, so that's another reason the sun-centered reference frame is more convenient. If one tracks a planet's motion across the night sky over the course of months one can see it retrogress, or go backwards from its normal direction for a few days or so at a time. This is the evidence that planets do not revolve around the Earth.

Today we have satellites put up in the outer space and doing lot of work with the knowledge of earth moving around sun.