<p>Conservation of angular momentum keeps the solar system's overall axis of rotation pointing in a fixed direction as it revolves around the galaxy, just as the earth consistently points at Polaris over the course of an orbit. Tidal forces do cause the earth's axis to precess on a 25,000-year timescale, but tidal forces of the galaxy on the sun are much weaker. See <a href="https://public.nrao.edu/ask/does-the-suns-rotational-axis-precess/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this Q&amp;A</a> for a discussion of whether the sun's axis precesses like the earth's does.</p>
<p>Even if the entire system's plane does change over time under the effect (perhaps) of nearby stars, you would not expect it to be synchronized with its orbit around the center of the galaxy.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-06T13:17:24.607Z
2023-10-06T13:17:24.607Z
Mark Foskey
<p>As our solar system performs its +-230 million year lap around the Milky Way, is the orientation of the ecliptic plane preserved independent of the center of our galaxy, or does the plane perserve its orientation (ie is gravitationally tied) to the center of our galaxy?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-10-05T00:24:23.947Z
See: https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/43208/observing-the-motion-of-the-solar-system-and-galaxy-through-space and https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/34365/does-the-axis-of-solar-system-precess-during-its-motion-in-the-milky-way-galaxy
Nilay Ghosh
<orbit><solar-system><milky-way>
Motion of solar system around Milky Way
DanO
# Motion of solar system around Milky Way

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-10-04)

As our solar system performs its +-230 million year lap around the Milky Way, is the orientation of the ecliptic plane preserved independent of the center of our galaxy, or does the plane perserve its orientation (ie is gravitationally tied) to the center of our galaxy?

**Tags:** orbit, solar-system, milky-way

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: See: https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/43208/observing-the-motion-of-the-solar-system-and-galaxy-through-space and https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/34365/does-the-axis-of-solar-system-precess-during-its-motion-in-the-milky-way-galaxy  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2023-10-06. Score: 3

Conservation of angular momentum keeps the solar system's overall axis of rotation pointing in a fixed direction as it revolves around the galaxy, just as the earth consistently points at Polaris over the course of an orbit. Tidal forces do cause the earth's axis to precess on a 25,000-year timescale, but tidal forces of the galaxy on the sun are much weaker. See [this Q&A](https://public.nrao.edu/ask/does-the-suns-rotational-axis-precess/) for a discussion of whether the sun's axis precesses like the earth's does.

Even if the entire system's plane does change over time under the effect (perhaps) of nearby stars, you would not expect it to be synchronized with its orbit around the center of the galaxy.


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