Questions tagged [orbital-mechanics]
The application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to the practical problems concerning the motion of rockets and other spacecraft.
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How well are planetary formation models (e.g., determining $\mathrm{\dot{M}_{planet}}$) understood in 2024?
I know that planets can form through accretion, bulging up from $0$ to their final mass $\mathrm{M_{planet}}$ at $\mathrm{M}(t_f)$. I know that when studying Planetary formation and migration theories,...
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Is it coincidence that the earth's rotation and revolution are in the same direction?
In a reference system where the sun is static, the rotation and revolution of the earth are, when viewed from above the north pole, both counterclockwise.
Is it a coincidence that they agree? Or does ...
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Fractal structure of the universe
I decided to return to the question first written here after some time, since a short and succinct phrase had formed in my head that described the phenomenon that I was trying to understand.
What are ...
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Will the Moon recede far enough that the Earth-Moon barycenter lies outside of Earth's radius before the Sun becomes a red giant?
As most people know, the Moon is receding from Earth at a rate of a few centimeters per year. This rate is not constant; as the Moon gets farther away, the tides it raises will be weaker and thus will ...
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Corkscrew-like stable two-body system
I recently created a celestial body simulation in python for one of my classes. While playing around with different values I obtained a weird two-body stable system.. For context, these bodies are ...
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Would the Earth still precess if it were an ideal sphere?
Migrated from Space Exploration
I am trying (unsuccessfully) to acquire an intuitive understanding of planetary precession.
Is Earth’s precession Torque-free Precession due to its asymmetry as per ...
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Equation for calculating boolean answer to "is this Earth satellite in eclipse"
I have found plenty of math for determining duration of satellite eclipse, but I am having trouble finding an equation that produces a simple boolean answer to the question "Is this Earth ...
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Are there mascons on Ganymede similar to the ones on the Moon? And if so, how will that impact JUICE when it orbits over Ganymede?
Mascons, also known as mass concentrations, are anomalous features on the Moon that tug on orbiting spacecraft and cause their orbits to decay and crash on short timescales. There are only a handful ...
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Do moons of rocky oblate planets migrate to low inclination over time? If so, does the time it takes depend on the Moon's size?
Discussions elsewhere suggest that this happens and that smaller moons would tend to low inclination with respect to the planet's equator faster than larger ones.
For example, Mars' small moons are ...
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Just how resonant is the "resonant sextuplet of sub-Neptunes transiting the bright star HD 110067"?
The November 29, 2023 arXiv preprint A resonant sextuplet of sub-Neptunes transiting the bright star HD 110067 constructs a resonant chain of orbital periods based on mean motion resonances (MMRs) and ...
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Do the Galilean moons' orbits around the Sun have loops (i.e. have concave parts)? And if so, how can their orbits be graphed?
The shape of the Moon's orbit around the Sun has been discussed to death, and the answer is that the Moon's orbit has no concave "loops" whatsoever.
I am relatively sure that the determinant ...
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Appropriate NEO databases for preliminary orbit determination simulations
I am a high school student that is currently writing an extended essay in physics. In my essay I compare the accuracy of Gauss method and double-r iteration method for determining the preliminary ...
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Should you include aberration effects during low Earth orbit observations?
I am working on calibration of some observations of low Earth orbit satellites and I am wondering should I include aberration effects? My logic is that diurnal aberration would have neglegible ...
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Hierarchy of gravitational interactions of astronomical objects: from single to large-scale structures
Hierarchical structure is clearly visible in the Universe. The "observable universe" includes almost empty voids, between which lie large cosmic filaments. The filaments consist of galactic ...
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Three Body Problem using Python
I need help with an assignment. I'm doing a little project for a subject on my university and as the title says, its to find a solution to the three body problem restricted to a circular motion.
The ...
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