Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

Learning Target(s):
E5.p1D - Describe the position and motion of our solar
system in our galaxy.
Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

Milky Way Galaxy Picture

You Are Here!!!
Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

Each Day We Are On Earth

We Travel 1,598,400 Miles
Around The Sun
That works out to:
18.5 miles/sec
1,110 miles/minute
66,600 miles/hour
Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

Each Day We Are On Earth We

Travel 24,855 Miles On Our Axis
That works out to:
1040 miles/hour
17.3 miles/minute
.3 miles/second
Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

The sun is about 26,000 light-years from the center of

the Milky Way Galaxy, which is about 100,000
light-years!
Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

How Far Is This???

Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

5,865,696,000,000 miles/year x 100,000 l.y. =

5,865,696,000,000,000,000 (quintillion) miles/year
Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

It takes the sun (and our solar system) roughly 200-250

million years to orbit once around the Milky Way.
Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

In other words, that last time that the Sun was in its
current position in space around the Milky Way,
dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

In fact, this Sun orbit has only happened 20.4 times

since the Sun itself formed 4.6 billion years ago.
Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

It’s estimated that the Sun will continue fusing hydrogen

for another 7 billon years or so. In other words, it only
has another 31 orbits it can make before it runs out of
fuel.
Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

In this orbit, we (and the rest of the Solar System) are

traveling at a velocity of about 155 miles/sec.
How Far Is This???
Hamilton, MI to South Lyon, MI…In 1 Second!!!
 Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

Since the Sun is 26,000 light-years from the center of

the Milky Way, it has to travel at an astonishing speed of
485,912 mi/hour in a circular orbit around the Milky
Way center.
How Fast Is This???
You could travel around Earth 19.5 times in an hour!
485,912/24,901 = 19.5 times!!!
Notes – Motion Of Our Solar System In Our Galaxy

Just for comparison, the Earth is rotating at a speed of

1,100 mi/hour, and it’s moving at a speed of 67,108
mi/hour around the Sun.