All Questions
Tagged with newtonian-gravity celestial-mechanics
373
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Has our knowledge of astrophysics and gravity reached the point where we can accurately calculate Lagrange points?
is it possible for us today given the knowledge we possess of gravity and our success with inserting satellites in to steady/ geosynchronous orbit and any knowledge we have on the relative size (and ...
- 207k
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Gravitational collapse - proof that energy dissipation is required?
As an undergraduate, I took a short course on astrophysics, where I encountered the Jeans mass. This is the critical mass for a spherical cloud of interstellar gas above which the cloud is predicted ...
- 133k
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Question about Lagrange's solution for the three-body problem
The original text in my textbook, written in short:
"By Newton's second law,
$$\ddot{\mathbf{x}}_1=-Gm_{2}\frac{\mathbf{x}_1-\mathbf{x}_2}{|\mathbf{x}_1-\mathbf{x}_2|^3}-Gm_{3}\frac{\mathbf{x}_1-...
CommunityBot
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Restricted 3-body: one large mass and two smaller ones
A restricted 3-body problem is usually understood as two large bodies and one much smaller one that doesn't affect the motion of the other two.
I am curious about a 3-body problem with one large body, ...
- 207k
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What changes the velocity perpendicular to radius in an elliptical orbit?
I'm working currently on a problem that asks to justify that angular momentum and kinetic energy conserves for a planet in an elliptical orbit. Although I've been taught that angular momentum should ...
- 10.7k
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How are the Lagrange points determined?
According to Hyper Physics, there are 5 equilibrium, or Lagrange points of the Earth-Moon system and only 2 of them are said to represent stable equilibrium points.
This made me think if there is an ...
- 207k
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Find eccentricity of orbit given the velocity and the semi-major axis
Is it possible to calculate eccentricity of orbit knowing only the semi-major axis and the velocity of both celestial bodies? If not, what other additional information is required.
Does the fact that ...
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When are two object guaranteed to keep getting further and further away?
In a two-body problem, it is known (if I understand correctly) that if the specific orbital energy of the system is $\varepsilon \geq0$, then the objects must eventually escape each other. My question ...
- 207k
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Regularization: What is so special about the Coulomb/Newtonian and harmonic potential?
I wanted to know if the procedure for regularization of the Coulomb potential outlined in Celletti (2003): Basics of regularization theory could be generalized to arbitrary polynomial potentials. So ...
CommunityBot
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Speed of satellite in elliptical orbit [closed]
A satellite $S$ orbits a planet of mass $M$ in an elliptical orbit. At perihelion, $S$ has a tangential velocity of $v_1$ and is distance $r_1$ from the planet. At aphelion, $S$ has a velocity of $v_2$...
- 207k
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The shape characteristics of gravitational wells given different masses and spread of objects
I am curious as to research that calculates the shape of gravitational wells, and their limits, and affect on time, for different masses and spread of mass. The actual question is st the end.
For ...
CommunityBot
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Tidal forces in the early solar system
I'm reading a book called "Gravity from the ground up" by Bernard Schutz. I don't understand this section from Investigation 13.3 on page 159, which discusses the formation of the solar ...
- 56.4k
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2
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Average Speed in one half of an elliptical orbit
I was wondering whether the average speed along one half of an elliptical orbit (say in a star planet system) had a closed form exact solution using Kepler's laws.
My approach was using the ...
- 2,712
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Gravity assist, Coordinate system transformation
I am currently learning about the physics and the mathmatics behind gravity assist. I have a question regarding the coordinate transformation between the planet frame and the sun frame.
I want to ...
CommunityBot
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Orbiting body around a star
Let us assume there's a body with mass $m$ and velocity $v$, at a distance $r$ from another body of mass $M$. The velocity vector is perpendicular to the radial vector. With these values, how do we ...
- 133k