Can we be 100 % sure that the earth is orbiting around the sun and not the opposite?
338602
There are a number of observations that prove Earth moves around the Sun. Astronomers have found that relatively nearby stars appear to move horizontally back and forth slightly over a year's time. This effect is due to a phenomenon called parallax which in turn results from Earth's movement around the Sun. Also Earth's measured movement through the cosmic microwave background radiation is consistent with our orbit around the Sun.\n\nThis website has a more complete discussion about proofs of Earth's orbit around the Sun --\n\nhttp://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=190
35969
The Earth rotates (spins around).  Sometimes a side is facing the Sun and is in daytime.  Sometimes it is not and is in nighttime.
618473
It's relative to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, called the Ecliptic.
889751
Possible, yes.  Likely, no.  We know the orbits of the satellites we put up pretty well.\n\nHowever, there IS a lot of junk orbiting the Earth - pieces of spacecraft, nuts, bolts, etc - and they are orbiting fast.  Being hit by a fast-moving piece of space trash is something they have to keep in mind and try to account for when building shuttles.
322134
must be thousands, as strictly all satellites that have been launched and are still up there go round the sun by virtue of the fact that the earth and all other planets go round the sun
11338
The earth is round. There are some physical proofs below, assuming you don't trust the pictures of the Earth taken from the various space programs.
268784
The sun never stops shining.  The earths rotation brings us into the shadow of the earth for part of every day.  If you wer far enough north in the summer or south in the winter then the sun would never dip below the horizon while it appeared to circle around the sky.
431091
It is because of the Earth's rotation.
994578
Technically, it is ... just slowly ... the orbits that the planets make around the sun are actually the planets spiralling inward toward the sun ... they will collide with the sun eventually.
167554
It is highly unlikly that the earth will ever change the direction of rotation. A strong outside force must be present. But the rotation of the earth is slowing down over time due to the pull from the moon. dont worry if anything does change you will not be here to see it.
1096009
At this point, the question is not what moves the sun or the earth, but what if anything is stopping it.\n\nThey were set in motion long ago. (nobody knows precisely how and why but most of the astronomy theories have to do with motion and energies imparted in a big bang or the like)\n\nOnce in motion, an object will stay in motion until something stops it.  So, nothing is moving the earth now, it is just still moving.  It will continue rotating and orbiting and winging along through space until something interferes.
462919
In a geocentric system, the Earth is at the center of the universe, and everything else goes around the Earth.  It was believed that the Earth was at the center up until the 1500s, when Gallileo and Copernicus used much more accurate measurements of planetary movements to prove it wrong.  Gallileo was even condemned and tortured by the Church for saying that the Sun was at the center of the solar system.
440880
Well I am not sure if it is proper to apply the term to the sun, but the sun's apparent motion against the background of fixed stars is always in the same direction as that of planets that are moving in the prograde direction.
352366
no, but the sun is getting bigger and it is predicted that it will absord mercury and venus on its way to us, but it may or may not consume us.  This will only occur in the next 5 billion or so years.  But you can look at this question two ways, yes it is getting closer because it is expanding, or you could say no because it is not physically moving toward us even though we are going in an eliptical orbit (oval for you simpletons)\n\nConsidering also that we are significantly smaller than the sun, and the laws of physics state that (in simple terms) the larger the object is = stronger the force of gravity.  Thus meaning that the sun cannot actually get closer to us, but we could if we did not maintain the correct amount of centripetal force that allows us to rotate in an eliptical orbit so that we do not fall into the sun.  \n\nPS i am in 10th grade
246461
No more than the earth does work orbiting the sun. An orbit has constant energy, and if it is not circular, there is a continuous process of exchanging kinetic energy with potential energy while the sum stays the same.
465729
Two possibilities not previously mentioned: first, phone your various friends around the world, and ask them the time! You will then find out that the sun is at a different height in the sky at different places. So at least the world is not flat, since the sun is very much farther out than the distances between any two points on earth.\n\nSecond, wait for a lunar eclipse. This is the Earth's shadow projected on the moon. It is round. The Earth is not a disk (see first experiment) but casts a round shadow: a sphere seems indicated. In fact, it is a sliughtly flattened sphere (ellipsoid, in fancy language)
993361
Hrmm the problem is "path relative to what frame of reference"?  See, the earth is moving along in a straight line through the curved or warped space of the Sun's gravity well.  But, I guess you're looking for the answer:  straight line.