When the Earth orbits around the sun, relatively speaking, does it circle in the same path each time?

Question

When the Earth orbits around the sun, relatively speaking, does it circle in the same path each time?

In: 184

Answer 1

Short answer yes.

Less short answer. In the absence of other planetary bodies, yes.

Long answer. Everything has mass (and by extension gravity) and pulls on everything which includes other distant galaxies. This means the planets in the solar system will slightly alter the Earth’s orbit, same as all galaxies in the universe.

Not five year old answer. The solar system is constantly moving through the universe so the earth TECHNICALLY will never be in the same spot twice because the solar system will also never be in the same spot twice.