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What orbits the Earth

What answer would you give the contestant for "What orbits the Earth"?

  • The Moon

    Votes: 102 73.4%

  • The Sun

    Votes: 5 3.6%

  • Venus

    Votes: 2 1.4%

  • Mars

    Votes: 4 2.9%

  • On Planet X, we have no game shows.

    Votes: 26 18.7%
  • Total voters
    139
My French grammar isn't great, but in English it's the sort of question I know I'd have a good chance of getting wrong.

Under the pressure of the show, it would be all to easy to get confused and instead of hearing 'what orbits the earth', instead hear 'what does the earth orbit'

Then the Sun does become the correct answer, to the poor chap make not be stupid, be just may have misunderstood the question.
 
I can see that, yeah, maybe he got confused under the pressure, except that he used a lifeline, which meant he heard the question (whether wrong or not) and did not know the answer. To top that off, the audience must have, for the most part, heard the question right, and still gave the wrong answer.
 
Years ago I saw a very elegant animation of the Earth moving on its orbit around the sun and the Moon moving on its orbit, as though viewed from directly above the plane of the Earth's orbit. The Earth left a blue trace line behind it; the Moon left a red one. Because both were in motion, the Earth's trace was a portion of an ellipse, but the Moon's trace was a kind of sine wave, with the Earth's trace as its lateral midpoint. Seen from that point of view, both the Earth and the Moon appear to orbit the sun...but the Moon had a wobbly orbit.

I hope that was clear. Paging Patrick Moore!
 
You never realised that the Moon revolves around the Sun as it revolves around the Earth?
 
Spektator said:
Years ago I saw a very elegant animation of the Earth moving on its orbit around the sun and the Moon moving on its orbit, as though viewed from directly above the plane of the Earth's orbit. The Earth left a blue trace line behind it; the Moon left a red one. Because both were in motion, the Earth's trace was a portion of an ellipse, but the Moon's trace was a kind of sine wave, with the Earth's trace as its lateral midpoint. Seen from that point of view, both the Earth and the Moon appear to orbit the sun...but the Moon had a wobbly orbit.

I hope that was clear. Paging Patrick Moore!
Click to expand...

This actually plays to something I learned in an advanced astronomy class back in college. "It depends on your definition of an orbit." Since, as Spektator noticed, the Moon never displays retrograde motion relative to the Sun, it can be said to orbit the Sun and not the Earth! So, by this definition, the correct answer is "E. None of the above" and we can consider the Earth-Moon system to be a double planet.

Of course, this is merely a matter of definitions, just like the newly revised definition of "planet." (Can Pluto-Charon be considered a double planet, when NEITHER is considered a planet to begin with?)
 
Technically, the Moon and Mars. Venus does not since it's solar orbit diameter is less than that of Earth's. Planet X may, as long as it's solar orbit is outside of Earth's orbit.
 
BillyJoe said:
How does the definition exclude the Moon from orbiting the Earth?
Click to expand...

Actually, your answer is "by definition." ONE definition of an orbit can be "does not exhibit actual retrograde motion." All other moons do so, but Luna does not. At one time, it did, when it's orbital period was shorter. In the future, as it gets further away from the Earth, it will pursue a clearly independent orbit. At what point does it go from "moon" to "planet?" Is it a distinct moment in time? By what definition?

I guess my real point is that these things are only accepted as "factual" by agreed upon definitions. A different definition gives it a different name -- so what? It doesn't change what it really is. "A rose by any other name would still hurt to grab by the stem!"
 
I still don't get it. :confused:

Saying that the Moon orbits the Sun doesn't exclude it from also orbiting the Earth. By the definition as I understand it, both are true.
 
Too much space junk.

The moon and earth orbit around each other if you want pick nits...really around the center of mass. The combined center of mass of the earth and the moon orbit around the sun...you can really reduce everything to obsurd levels...

glenn "in orbit around the center of the milkyway galaxy"

and getting dizzy...:boggled:
 
glennmr78 said:
Too much space junk.

The moon and earth orbit around each other if you want pick nits...really around the center of mass. The combined center of mass of the earth and the moon orbit around the sun...you can really reduce everything to obsurd levels...
Click to expand...
In a nutshell.:)
 
If I was asked what orbits the earth, I don't know that I'd simply say "The Moon." That's a very narrow answer.

Many things orbit the earth. The moon, at least two bodies believed to be asteroids, some pieces of apollo spacecraft, the international spacestation, Orbcomm1-32, Iridium 1-78, The International Space Station, Explorer-1 (oldies manmade satellite still in orbit), the hubble space telescope, Amsat Oscar satellites, Communications satellites inclusing galaxy series, panamsat series, intellasat, inmarsat, msat, AMC 1-3, Thuraya, XM Rock, XM Roll, Sirius 1, Sirius 2, Spitzer, A solar panel from Hubble, spy satellites, Milnet Satelites, Spin-1, Spin-2, Orbimage, Landsat 1-7. NOAA Satellites. GPS Satellites, micrometeorites, a big chunk of Mir that broke off, a booster from a failed progress resuply ship, the ashes of a few people....
 
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