How should we see the Holistic Universe Model?

I struggled a lot with this question. All the motions we see around us can be modelled from BOTH a Heliocentric AND a Geo-Heliocentric point of view. So which one is “real”?

Initially I was really tempted to think we live in a geo-heliocentric model. It would be a far better explanation for why we can’t feel or measure Earth’s changing orbital speed and why our atmosphere isn’t drifting away into space.

But after thinking it through carefully — and this took me a while — I came to a clear conclusion: we still live in a heliocentric solar system. Let me show you why.

Can we look at the model as if any other planet is the center?

Here’s an interesting thought experiment. Let’s say we live on Venus. Would there be a kind of VENUS-PERIHELION-POINT that makes it look like the Sun orbits Venus?

The answer is definitely yes. All planets have eccentric orbits, so all planets have a PERIHELION-POINT just outside the Sun.

The additional question: would Venus also have a wobble? According to science, yes. All rotating planets have some degree of oblateness (flattening) and therefore experience some kind of axial precession a.k.a. Wobble.

So there will be a VENUS-WOBBLE-CENTER just outside of Venus AND Venus will have a VENUS-PERIHELION-POINT close to the core of the Sun (because Venus only has a very small eccentric orbit).

This brings us to two important statements:

1. All PERIHELION-POINTS of the planets (causing the mean eccentricity and inclination precession) are close to the Sun.
2. All WOBBLE-CENTERS of the planets (causing the eccentricity amplitude and Axial precession) are close to their planet.

Since PERIHELION-POINTS and WOBBLE-CENTERS are not unique to Earth but exist for all planets, it is not logical to consider any planet to be the central location other than our Sun.

Three ways to look at the same model

Here’s what I find fascinating: you can describe the exact same physical reality from three different frames of reference. The math works out the same. The observations match. Only the “center” changes.

Let me walk you through all three.

1. With EARTH-WOBBLE-CENTER as the central point

   This is how I actually modelled it in the Interactive 3D Solar System Simulation:

   • The EARTH-WOBBLE-CENTER is the center of our solar system.
   • Earth is wobbling clockwise around the EARTH-WOBBLE-CENTER in a period of ~22,937 solar years, also known as Axial precession, and therefore the Axial tilt changes.
   • The PERIHELION-OF-EARTH is orbiting the EARTH-WOBBLE-CENTER (and therefore Earth) counter-clockwise in a period of 99,392 solar years, also known as Inclination precession, and therefore the inclination tilt changes.
   • Axial precession meets Inclination precession every 18,636 years.
   • Our Sun is orbiting the PERIHELION-OF-EARTH in a period of 1 solar year.
   • Therefore it shows as if Earth is orbiting the Sun.
   • All planets in our solar system are orbiting a perihelion-point just outside the Sun completely according to Kepler’s 3rd law.
   

2. With PERIHELION-OF-EARTH as the central point

   You can also flip the perspective. Instead of EARTH-WOBBLE-CENTER at the center, put PERIHELION-OF-EARTH there:

   • The PERIHELION-OF-EARTH is the center of our solar system.
   • Earth is wobbling clockwise around the EARTH-WOBBLE-CENTER in a period of ~22,937 solar years, also known as Axial precession, and therefore the Axial tilt changes.
   • The EARTH-WOBBLE-CENTER (and therefore Earth) is orbiting the PERIHELION-OF-EARTH counter-clockwise in a period of 99,392 solar years, also known as Inclination precession, and therefore the inclination tilt changes.
   • Axial precession meets Inclination precession every 18,636 years.
   • Our Sun is orbiting the PERIHELION-OF-EARTH in a period of 1 solar year.
   • Therefore it shows as if Earth is orbiting the Sun.
   • All planets in our solar system are orbiting a perihelion-point just outside the Sun completely according to Kepler’s 3rd law.

   Same movements, same periods, same observations — just a different viewpoint.

   

3. With the Sun as the central point

   And here’s the view that makes the most intuitive sense, the traditional heliocentric perspective:

   • The Sun is (still) the center of our solar system.
   • Earth is wobbling clockwise around the EARTH-WOBBLE-CENTER in a period of ~22,937 solar years, also known as Axial precession, and therefore the Axial tilt changes.
   • The PERIHELION-OF-EARTH is orbiting the Sun counter-clockwise in a period of 99,392 solar years, also known as Inclination precession, and therefore the inclination tilt changes.
   • Axial precession meets Inclination precession every 18,636 years.
   • Earth (or actually the EARTH-WOBBLE-CENTER) is orbiting the PERIHELION-OF-EARTH (close to the Sun) in a period of 1 solar year.
   • All planets in our solar system are orbiting a perihelion-point just outside the Sun completely according to Kepler’s 3rd law.
   

So what’s the bottom line?

We can look at the Holistic Universe Model from different frames of reference. The physics doesn’t care which point you call “the center.” But when you step back and ask what makes the most sense — given that ALL planets have PERIHELION-POINTS near the Sun, and ALL planets have WOBBLE-CENTERS near themselves — the answer becomes clear.

We are still living in a heliocentric solar system. The Sun is at the center. What’s different in the Holistic Universe Model is how we understand the movements around it.

Let’s explore how to use the Interactive 3D Solar System Simulation to see all this for yourself in the next chapter.