Is It Possible for a Star to Orbit a Planet?

Is it possible for a star to orbit a planet?

Check out this answer from Consensus:

Based on the current research, it is clear that stars do not orbit planets. Instead, planets orbit stars, including single stars and binary star systems. The gravitational dynamics observed in these studies consistently show that the more massive body (the star) remains the central point around which the less massive body (the planet) orbits.

The question of whether a star can orbit a planet is intriguing and challenges our conventional understanding of celestial mechanics. Typically, we observe planets orbiting stars due to the significant mass difference between the two. However, the dynamics of celestial bodies can sometimes present unique scenarios that merit exploration.

Key Insights

• Planetary Orbits Around Stars:
  • Planets orbit stars, and this is observed through the periodic dimming of starlight as planets transit their parent stars 1 3.
  • The discovery of transiting planets, such as HD209458b and XO-1b, confirms that planets typically orbit stars, not the other way around 1 3.
• Circumbinary Planets:
  • Circumbinary planets, like Kepler-34 b and Kepler-35 b, orbit around two stars rather than a single star, indicating complex orbital dynamics but still adhering to the principle of planets orbiting stars 2.
• Young Star-Planet Systems:
  • Planets can form around young stars with protoplanetary disks, as seen with the planet around TW Hydrae. This planet orbits its star within the inner rim of the disk, further supporting the conventional model of planets orbiting stars 4.

Is it possible for a star to orbit a planet?

Natasha Hurley-Walker has answered Near Certain

An expert from Curtin University in Astronomy

Actually, planets don’t orbit stars. All objects in a solar system revolve around their common centre of mass. For a single-star system like our own, that centre of mass is deep inside the Sun, but slightly offset from its centre, mostly in the direction of Jupiter, the second-most massive object in our solar system. In a binary star system consisting of two equal-mass stars, they will both revolve around an empty point in space halfway between the stars. This would be a Lagrange point, and it is technically possible (although incredibly unlikely) for a planet to be at that location. In this example, it would look as if the two stars were orbiting around a single planet. But just as in our own solar system, they would really all be revolving around a common centre of mass.

Is it possible for a star to orbit a planet?

Chris Woodruff has answered Near Certain

An expert from Walter+Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Bioinformatics, Optics

Absolutely agree with Natasha below. If you believe that a planet can orbit a star (I think most of us do believe this!), then you would logically believe that a star can orbit a planet (the star needs to have an associated planet).