barycenter
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈbɛrɪˌsɛntər/
- Specialized
- The two stars revolve around their common center of mass, known as the barycenter.
Examples
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At any moment, one can calculate the center of mass of the constellation of bodies; call it the Barycenter.
Blog text (30) -
The Earth's orbit is elliptical, but is it tied to the sun or the solar system barycenter?
Blog text (30) -
That must mean that the earth's orbit actually follows a very complicated cycloid about the barycenter as the sun follows its smaller path around the barycenter.
Blog text (30) -
In 2003, this led to the sudden collapse of the solar magnetic field because the Sun's center of mass was at its furthest distance from the barycenter of the solar system, leading to maximum tidal forces.
Blog text (31) -
In the Harvard program, META, Doppler corrections were made for Earth's motion relative to three possible rest frames: the local standard of rest, the Galactic barycenter, and the center of rest of the cosmic microwave background.
Academic text (1999) -
In the solar system, the barycenter of the Earth-Moon system is located just below the Earth's surface.
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Astronomers study the motion of celestial bodies to determine their barycenter, the point around which they orbit.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Barycenter comes from Greek parts bar(y)- meaning 'heavy' (as in barometer) and -center meaning 'middle'. Imagine a heavy and a light planet on a seesaw: the barycenter is the 'heavy middle' where they balance, so astronomers use it to find the point both bodies orbit.