When we learn about the solar system as children, we usually learn that the planets all revolve around the sun in their own orbits. Well, if you were one of the many people who were surprised and even a little saddened to learn that Pluto isn’t actually a planet, you may want to prepare yourself for yet another shocking space revelation. As reported by Business Insider, Jupiter doesn’t really orbit the sun — it’s too big! Per Space, Jupiter is so huge that if the mass of every other planet in the solar system combined into one planet, Jupiter would still be 2.5 times as large as the mega-planet. With a radius of 43,440.7 miles, its radius is still only a tenth of that of the sun. It’s made up of mostly hydrogen and helium, which means despite its massive size, it’s just a fifth as dense as Earth.

Business Insider explained that none of the planets revolving around the sun are doing so in a perfect circle. In fact, the sun and the other planets are both orbiting a combined center of gravity. Here on Earth, the sun is so much larger that this center of gravity is close to the middle of the sun, so it seems like we travel in a circle around the sun itself. This is true of every other planet as well — except the gas giant Jupiter.

Jupiter is too big to really orbit the sun

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