Where’s Home, Jupiter?
My soul wants to write about Jupiter’s home and that’s what I will do.
I’m not sure what is leading me to think along these lines even, but here I am. Where’s home, Jupiter?
Jupiter, like the other plants in our solar system, traces a path around the sun. Well, around the Sun-Jupiter barycenter as I recently learned but charting a route nonetheless. I’m sure there’s a way to pinpoint the exact address of Jupiter on that path in some way - sort of like a pointer in C can locate the memory address of a variable, or even latitude and longitude to find a place on Earth.
So, when Jupiter is currently located at point X on its orbit at a given moment in time, and then moves to point Y on its orbit a while later (or a few years later), does it notice a difference in its surroundings? Does Jupiter get homesick in Y after spending time in X? Does Jupiter compare the surroundings of X and Y; does it like one over the other; does it like some parts of place in X and some in Y?
If it then moves from Y to Z, where does it feel home at? Was X its original home with Y and Z becoming places it migrated to? Does Jupiter relate most to the 'time-spaceness' of X or Y or Z?
Does Jupiter find the surroundings of one part of its orbit more appealing than another? Does it fit in better in one part of its orbital trajectory than another?
Whaddya think, Jupiter? Do you long for a home home on your orbital path, a spot that feels more familiar and comfortable than the rest? Does one place feel like the Shire and another place on that path turn you into a Thorin Oakenshield in quest of your homeland?
Anyway, I did a quick search and discovered that orbital paths can be calculated with great accuracy in a branch of astronomy called celestial mechanics. Planetary orbits are predictable, thus, ephemerides (set of data; computational model) can pinpoint the exact location of a planet at a given time.
I’d love to know though, Jupiter, what you think about home.



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