What is Barycenter?
{{nosources|date=April 2016}} [[File:orbit2.gif|thumb|200px|Two bodies orbiting around a common barycenter. The sizes, and this particular type of orbit are similar to the [[Pluto]]-[[Charon (moon)|Charon]] system.]] The '''barycenter''' (or '''barycentre'''; from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''βαρύκεντρον'') is the point between two objects where they [[balance]] each other. For example, it is the [[center of mass]] where two or more [[planet]]s [[orbit]] each other. When a [[natural satellite|moon]] orbits a [[planet]], or a planet orbits a [[star]], both bodies are actually orbiting around a point that lies outside the center of the larger body. For example, the moon does not orbit the exact center of the [[Earth]]. It actually orbits a point on a line between the center of the Earth, and the Moon. This is about 1,710&nbsp;km below the surface of the Earth. This is the point where the mass of the moon, and the mass of the Earth balance. This is the point about which the Earth, and Moon orbit as they travel around the [[Sun]]. The solar system of course also has a barycenter—depending on the current locations of the planets the barycenter of the solar system is below the surface of the sun or more than twice the sun’s diameter outside of the sun's surface. Also the barycenter exists in the world of geometry. For example, the circle has a barycenter. {{science-stub}} [[Category:Celestial mechanics]]