<p>The Earth does not rotate around the Sun.  Rotating means spinning around an axis.  The Earth revolves or orbits around the Sun.</p>
<p>The Sun does not orbit or evolve around our galaxy. Instead the Sun is inside our galaxy and part of it and orbits around the center of gravity of the Milky Way Galaxy, a center of gravity which is about 27 thousand light years away. A lot of objects gradually spiral in towards the center of mass of the galaxy. Very near to the center of gravity of the Milky Way Galaxy there is a super massive black hole which swallows up many incoming gas molecules, planets, and stars.  Some people say the Sun and everything in the galaxy revolves around the super massive black Hole, which is not technically correct.</p>
<p>If someone considered the Milky Way Galaxy to be the entire universe, they would be tempted to imagine the supermassive black hole was the center of the Universe. But the existence of many other galaxies beyond the Milky Way was proved decades before the super massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way was discovered.</p>
<p>The Milky Way Galaxy we live in is part of a relatively small cluster of galaxies called the Local Group.  The mutual gravitational attraction of the galaxies in the Local Group prevents any from ever escaping from the Local Group.</p>
<p>I don't know whether the galaxies in the Local Group revolve around the center of gravity of the Local Group.</p>
<p>The Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy, the two largest galaxies in the Local Group are pulling themselves closer, and are predicted to merge together in a mere few billion years.</p>
<p>The Virgo Cluster is a very large cluster of many galaxies.  At or near its center which is about 65 million light years from the Milky Way is a very large galaxy, M87, which I think of as &quot;the Great Galaxy&quot;.  At or near the center of mass of M87 is a super massive black hole many times more massive  than the one at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.</p>
<p>The Virgo Cluster of galaxies is more or less at the center of a cluster of cluster, the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies.  The Local Group is an outlying member of the Virgo Supercluster.</p>
<p>So if someone thought that the Virgo Supercluster of Galaxies was the entire universe, they would be tempted to imagine that the super massive black Hole at the center of M87 was not only the center of M87, but also the center of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies and also the center of the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies, and thus of the universe they knew.</p>
<p>And of course the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies is just an incredibly tiny part of the known universe as a whole, and the known universe is believed to be an incredibly tiny part of the actual universe.</p>
<p>There is a recent study indicating the the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies is really part of a much larger structure, the Laniakea Supercluster which is approximately 520 million light years wide.  The center of mass of the Laniakea Supercluster is believed to be at a galaxy filament called the Norma Wall and The Great Attractor.</p>
<p>The Laniakea Supercluster is not believed to be gravitationally bound, so the various parts should move apart over billions of years.</p>
<p>And beyond all that is the Shapley Supercluster.</p>
<p>And I am not sure whether the Milky Way Galaxy Orbits around the center of the Local Group of Galaxies and whether the Local Group of Galaxies orbits around the center of the Virgo Supercluster of Galaxies.  And possibly there could be even larger scale orbits.</p>
<p>But at such vast orbital circumferences of tens of millions, hundreds of millions, and billions of light years, it may be doubted that an object would have had time to complete even a single orbit in the entire history of the universe.</p>
<p>At large distances of millions of light years, the expansion of the universe tends to be stronger than gravitational attraction.</p>
<p>There are similar questions.</p>
<p><a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/49075/is-there-a-limit-to-how-many-objects-can-orbit-eachother-in-a-chain">Is there a limit to how many objects can orbit eachother in a chain?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/43226/what-is-the-longest-natural-bound-orbit-chain-observed/43232#43232">What is the longest natural bound orbit chain observed?</a></p>
<p><a href="https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/32510/does-the-milky-way-orbit-around-anything">Does the Milky Way orbit around anything?</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-16T15:29:48.627Z
"I don't know whether the galaxies in the Local Group revolve around the center of gravity of the Local Group." - looks like just the thing you should have checked before answering... And no, they aren't.
Mithoron
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-16T04:20:30.130Z
2024-09-18T01:31:12.390Z
2024-09-18T01:31:12.390Z
M. A. Golding
<p>I wonder that like Earth rotates around the Sun and likewise the Sun revolves around our Galaxy, does our Galaxy (and others too) revolve around something?</p>

<orbit><galaxy><orbital-mechanics>
Is our Galaxy revolving around something
Akash Patil
# Is our Galaxy revolving around something

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-09-15)

I wonder that like Earth rotates around the Sun and likewise the Sun revolves around our Galaxy, does our Galaxy (and others too) revolve around something?

**Tags:** orbit, galaxy, orbital-mechanics


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-09-16. Score: 0

The Earth does not rotate around the Sun. Rotating means spinning around an axis. The Earth revolves or orbits around the Sun.

The Sun does not orbit or evolve around our galaxy. Instead the Sun is inside our galaxy and part of it and orbits around the center of gravity of the Milky Way Galaxy, a center of gravity which is about 27 thousand light years away. A lot of objects gradually spiral in towards the center of mass of the galaxy. Very near to the center of gravity of the Milky Way Galaxy there is a super massive black hole which swallows up many incoming gas molecules, planets, and stars. Some people say the Sun and everything in the galaxy revolves around the super massive black Hole, which is not technically correct.

If someone considered the Milky Way Galaxy to be the entire universe, they would be tempted to imagine the supermassive black hole was the center of the Universe. But the existence of many other galaxies beyond the Milky Way was proved decades before the super massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way was discovered.

The Milky Way Galaxy we live in is part of a relatively small cluster of galaxies called the Local Group. The mutual gravitational attraction of the galaxies in the Local Group prevents any from ever escaping from the Local Group.

I don't know whether the galaxies in the Local Group revolve around the center of gravity of the Local Group.

The Milky Way Galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy, the two largest galaxies in the Local Group are pulling themselves closer, and are predicted to merge together in a mere few billion years.

The Virgo Cluster is a very large cluster of many galaxies. At or near its center which is about 65 million light years from the Milky Way is a very large galaxy, M87, which I think of as "the Great Galaxy". At or near the center of mass of M87 is a super massive black hole many times more massive than the one at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

The Virgo Cluster of galaxies is more or less at the center of a cluster of cluster, the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies. The Local Group is an outlying member of the Virgo Supercluster.

So if someone thought that the Virgo Supercluster of Galaxies was the entire universe, they would be tempted to imagine that the super massive black Hole at the center of M87 was not only the center of M87, but also the center of the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies and also the center of the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies, and thus of the universe they knew.

And of course the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies is just an incredibly tiny part of the known universe as a whole, and the known universe is believed to be an incredibly tiny part of the actual universe.

There is a recent study indicating the the Virgo Supercluster of galaxies is really part of a much larger structure, the Laniakea Supercluster which is approximately 520 million light years wide. The center of mass of the Laniakea Supercluster is believed to be at a galaxy filament called the Norma Wall and The Great Attractor.

The Laniakea Supercluster is not believed to be gravitationally bound, so the various parts should move apart over billions of years.

And beyond all that is the Shapley Supercluster.

And I am not sure whether the Milky Way Galaxy Orbits around the center of the Local Group of Galaxies and whether the Local Group of Galaxies orbits around the center of the Virgo Supercluster of Galaxies. And possibly there could be even larger scale orbits.

But at such vast orbital circumferences of tens of millions, hundreds of millions, and billions of light years, it may be doubted that an object would have had time to complete even a single orbit in the entire history of the universe.

At large distances of millions of light years, the expansion of the universe tends to be stronger than gravitational attraction.

There are similar questions.

[Is there a limit to how many objects can orbit eachother in a chain?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/49075/is-there-a-limit-to-how-many-objects-can-orbit-eachother-in-a-chain)

[What is the longest natural bound orbit chain observed?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/43226/what-is-the-longest-natural-bound-orbit-chain-observed/43232#43232)

[Does the Milky Way orbit around anything?](https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/questions/32510/does-the-milky-way-orbit-around-anything)

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: "I don't know whether the galaxies in the Local Group revolve around the center of gravity of the Local Group." - looks like just the thing you should have checked before answering... And no, they aren't.  

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