Orbital paths layered from small to large

[Baby Astronaut]

The moon is on a path around the Earth, while both are on a different path around the sun, while all those are on a different path around the galaxy, while all of them are on a different path around a cluster, while all the previously mentioned things are on a path within a super cluster.

 

I've seen this kind of paths layering before in nature, but can't remember where.

 

Anyhow, it's difficult to visualize a path existing on a larger path which itself exists on an even larger path, where the travelers are heading in the direction of all those paths at once.

 

Is there an easy way to describe this phenomenon?

[Klaynos]

Depends what you mean by easy, first you need to pick your rest frame and stick with it.

[Baby Astronaut]

Well forget the easy, just in a way that makes sense.

 

I probably witnessed the real-life example on a fast conveyor belt-like system with the things on it going in localized circles. Something of that nature.

[iNow]

Is there an easy way to describe this phenomenon?

 

For some reason your question reminded me of the golden (fibonacci) spiral.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spiral

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_sequence

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry if that's not at all what you had in mind.

[Jacques]

I imagine that the earth is tracing an helix around the galaxy

[Klaynos]

I imagine that the earth is tracing an helix around the galaxy

 

Only in the rest frame of the galaxy, in the rest frame of the earth the galaxy is doing something very strange but just as correct...

[Sisyphus]

Well, as Klaynos says, it depends on your frame of reference. Looking at the Moon: from the Moon's frame, it is at rest. From the Earth's, it is following a slightly distorted elliptical path. From the sun's, it closely follows the Earth's nearly elliptical orbit, but weaves in and out of it in a nearly sine wave like pattern. From the galaxy's, it's a wobbly, slanted helix following a very rough ellipse around the core, chaotically tossed around on its way.

[Baby Astronaut]

Actually, it's easier to visualize now. I guess thanks

 

For some reason your question reminded me of the golden (fibonacci) spiral.

Not sure.

 

But I did remember where I saw it in nature. The water striders circling around on moving water, and you see it too in little whirlpools that form on moving water. In both cases, the path of the larger scale flow encompasses different paths of smaller objects which is the case with inter-layered paths in space going different ways but following the largest-scaled path they're all on.

 

It's just weird to think about, because in the end, which direction are you really going in after we subtract the net losses of the more inconsequential paths? It would seem to be the direction of the largest-scale path, intuitively. But is this always the case?

[CaptainPanic]

Electrons orbit an atom's core. Atoms can be clustered in a molecule that itself rotates around its center of mass. Especially in the gas phase, molecules have a lot of freedom to rotate around. Note that electron orbits may not be as spherical as planetary orbits (which are also not a perfect circle, but molecular orbits (orbitals) may have even weirder shapes).

 

And then there's of course the funfair which has machines in which you're the "moon" that rotates around the "earth" which rotates around the "sun". Doesn't go further than that luckily... I'm sure everyone would get sick. Also, the funfair is not exactly "nature".