In science it is possible to get the wrong perception of the subject matter. For a long time I thought that Newton's laws concerning gravity meant that all items of mass exerted a mutual attraction. While I was working on a project of my own I learned that there is a quirk to this because the positions of the planets in the solar system has not one thing- nada, to do with the mass or the attraction of any of the planets.
The concept that the planets are "falling" into the sun but restrained by orbital momentum is the explanation for what we see. The apparent lack of a contribution of the planets gravity, I think, is explained by "all things fall at the same speed in a vacume" OK. But with that assumption what happens to the basic attraction the planet Earth, or Jupiter, should have for the sun?
I know one of you will have answer for me.
Jim Wood
This seems to imply.
