What Causes the ‘Movement’ of the Planets and Why Do They Orbit the Sun?

The Sun is like a giant magnet that pulls the planets, making them move and go around it in a circle.

Imagine you're holding a string and swinging a ball around you. The ball wants to go straight, but the string keeps pulling it back, that’s what happens with planets! The Sun's gravity acts like the string, keeping the planets from flying off into space.

• The Sun is very heavy, so its gravity is strong enough to pull all the planets toward it.
• But the planets are also moving, they were set in motion a long time ago, and they keep going straight unless something changes their path.
• Because of this balance between gravity pulling them in and their own forward motion, the planets end up going around the Sun instead of crashing into it or flying away.

It’s like being on a merry-go-round, you're moving forward, but the ride keeps spinning you around!