Quote:
Originally Posted by ThaVirus
So what is it about the barycenter that makes it the focal point from which our solar system revolves?
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Well that's the point where the gravitational forces even out with relation to the masses. Planets don't have circular orbits, they're elliptical, and because of that a planet with decent mass compared to it's star can tug the star like the gif image above. The link in that post explains it better than I'm able.
The fact that there is a barrycenter, is how we detect planets in other far away galaxies. We look for that little wobble in the parent star, indicating that a planet is tugging at it.