Hi! Noob here. Is there a name for the place in the sky that is the earth’s direction of travel? For example, the Geminid meteor shower is starting. So I assume the earth is traveling (what appears to be ) toward Gemini at this point in time. Previously it was Leo. So our direction of orbit…does it have a name? Is it tracked somewhere
No such thing.
The definition of that changes depending on the reference frame you use. Relative to a rock, it’s one answer. Relative to a nearby star, there’s another answer. Relative to a different galaxy it’s a completely different answer. It goes on and on, because you cannot define motion as being relative to space, since space is not a thing.
On social media you may hear tales about certain frames of reference being somehow “universal”, but they are all doing favorite sports teams there. No reference frame is privileged. None whatsoever. Nada. That one reference frame you just thought about right now, that you feel pretty confident about - is not privileged.
This is one of those questions that laypeople expect to have a simple answer, and other laypeople argue on social media that it does have an answer. All those answers are relative. Change the frame, and the answer will change.
That’s all.