The Wobbling Sun
When a planet orbits a star, the planet's gravitational pull causes the star to wobble as the system moves through space. Astronomers search for these wobbling stars when trying to identify new, unseen planets. In fact, if alien astronomers began tracking the motion of the Sun in the year 2000, viewing it from its North Ecliptic Pole, this (above) is what they would see over the next 50 years, adjusted for the normal motions of the star and system. |
Copyright 1997 The New York Times Company