I’ve seen so many times this 2D representation of the solar system and I felt somehow shocked when I saw a Youtube video supposedly showing how the planets actually orbit around the sun, and how the sun orbits the center of our galaxy. Basically, the sun is moving and the planets orbiting around it form some sort of vortex. If you look at the whole thing as if you were in front of the vortex (or behind), you would see the 2D representation.
I don’t know either if that’s what happens in reality but this 2D representation is getting old I guess.
It depends on your frame of reference - that video is true for a frame of reference which is the center of the galaxy. This representation is with the sun as the frame of reference. From that point of view it is the galaxy that is moving with respect to the sun and the planets.
I've seen that too when it was making the rounds. It's certainly interesting in that it opens your mind to the concept of reference frames. That said, I don't think the 2D representation is really all that inaccurate (and certainly that "vortex" animation isn't particularly MORE accurate either).
That's the thing about reference frames. There is no absolute and there can be multiple that are equally valid. Frankly, using the sun as our reference frame makes perfect sense to me.
When you're trying to visualize a car trip on a map from one city to another, is it really useful to visualize the car, the city, and the planet all spinning around, moving through space in the same kind of vortex?
The "vortex model" that went viral something like 10 years ago was more or less immediately debunked by scientific news outlets. It is beautifully made and intriguing but unfortunately not correct.
I don’t know either if that’s what happens in reality but this 2D representation is getting old I guess.