The Sun's Journey: Circumnavigating the Milky Way

The sun and our solar system are not only orbiting the sun but also circling the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. It takes around 230 million years for the sun to complete one trip around the galaxy, but its orbit has not remained constant over its lifetime. The sun was likely born closer to the Milky Way's center and has migrated outward through a process called radial migration. This means the sun has made more trips around the galaxy than previously estimated. While it is currently in a fairly stable orbit, there is a possibility that the sun will continue to migrate outward in the future.