How fast is Earth traveling through space? That depends. | Michelle Thaller | Big Think

TL;DR

We are moving at incredible speeds within our galaxy and towards the Great Attractor due to various motions.

Transcript

Eugene, you've asked one of my favorite questions and a surprisingly deep one. The essence of it is: How fast are we really moving? We are a solar system; we are planets going around the Sun. But the Sun has its own motion around the galaxy, the Milky Way. And there are larger motions still because the Milky Way galaxy is also moving through space.... Read More

Key Insights

• 😀 Our solar system orbits the Milky Way at over half a million miles per hour.
• 💨 The universe's expansion causes galaxies to appear to move away from each other.
• 🌌 The Milky Way is part of the Laniakea Supercluster and is moving towards the Great Attractor.
• 🛰️ Different motions like orbiting around galaxies and superclusters contribute to our overall speed in space.

Questions & Answers

Q: How fast is our solar system moving around the center of the Milky Way galaxy?

Our solar system moves at a speed of over half a million miles per hour as it orbits around the center of the Milky Way galaxy, completing an orbit every 230 million years.

Q: What causes galaxies to appear to be moving away from each other?

The expansion of the universe causes space itself to expand, making galaxies appear to be moving away from each other, with distant galaxies receding close to the speed of light due to expanding space.

Q: What is the Great Attractor, and how fast is the Milky Way moving towards it?

The Great Attractor is a massive cluster of galaxies towards which the Milky Way is moving at a speed of over one and a half million miles per hour, as it is the center of gravity of the Laniakea Supercluster.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Our solar system orbits the center of the Milky Way galaxy every 230 million years at over half a million miles per hour.

• The universe's expansion causes galaxies to appear to be moving away, with distant galaxies receding close to the speed of light.

• The Milky Way is part of the Laniakea Supercluster and is moving towards the Great Attractor at one and a half million miles per hour.