barycenter

Shared gravitational pivot

The barycenter is the center of mass of a system of bodies—the point around which they mutually orbit.

The Earth and Moon orbit their common barycenter, which lies inside Earth but not at its center.

In the solar system, the barycenter of the Sun and Jupiter lies just outside the Sun's surface.

The term appears in physics and astronomy when tracking how multiple bodies influence each other's motion.

astronomy

mass

Quantity of matter

planets · orbit · system · galactic · dynamics · solar · lunar · cosmic · comet · satellite

geometry

centroid

Mean position of figure

  • pointExact location or meaning
  • axisRotation reference line
  • pivotPoint of rotation

locus · coordinate · triangle · polygon · weighted · mean · median · calculation · vertex · intersection

physics

mass

Quantity of matter

acceleration · inertia · momentum · dynamics · mechanics · Newtonian · calculation · coordinate · weighted · distribution

Opposites
gravitational reference point

barycentersurface

Outermost boundary layer

core · outer edge

spatial centrality

barycenterperiphery

Boundary or outer region

edge · boundary · extremity · outer limit · perimeter

Family

barycentric, barycentre

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