A depiction of the planets orbiting the Sun as they move through space is correct, but they don’t ‘trail behind’ as certain non-scientific videos show. (DJ SADHU / YOUTUBE)

Our Motion Through Space Isn’t A Vortex, But Something Far More Interesting

One of the most popular viral videos about space is dead wrong. But it gives us a chance to learn something incredible.

There are a lot of moving parts to the Universe, as nothing exists in isolation. There are literally trillions of large masses in our Solar System, all orbiting around the galactic center on timescales of hundreds of millions of years. But there’s a viral video, parts 1 and 2, that claims that as the Solar System moves through the galaxy, it makes a vortex shape, pulling the planets behind it as it does.

But our true cosmic address, and our real cosmic motion, is far more complex and interesting than a mere model such as this. Which is fascinating, because it’s all governed by one simple law: General Relativity. On the largest scales, it’s only gravity that determines the motion of everything, including us, as we move through the Universe.