Questions tagged [orbital-mechanics]
For questions dealing with how bodies interact with each other in space via gravitation.
384
questions
3
votes
2answers
176 views
If Earth Were a Gas Giant's Moon
Here is what we know of Earth:
Mass: 5.972 sextillion metric tons
Diameter: 7,917.5 miles
Density: 5.51 grams per cubic centimeter
Rotation: 24 hours
Revolution: 365 days
Core: 760 miles wide, ...
0
votes
3answers
173 views
In Search of a Super-Bright, Super-Stable Star
Long ago, I asked a question on how to make possible turning the nine realms of Norse mythology--Midgard, Asgard, Vanaheimr, Jotunheimr, Alfheimr, Hel, Nidavellir, Niflheim and Museplheim--into nine ...
11
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2answers
2k views
Could a planet have a naturally occuring moon at one of its Lagrange points?
Would it be possible for a planet to naturally have a moon or large natural satellite at one of its Lagrange points?
If so would it then also be able to have a second moon that would be orbiting this ...
1
vote
1answer
84 views
Could a single highly elliptic orbit be used to redirect to another planet?
I'm modeling this on the Voyager 2 flight path. I want to have this flight at this particular time, and not wait for a more advantageous launch window.
Based on this orbital configuration (1st ...
3
votes
1answer
102 views
How Far Can The Stars Ve and Vili Orbit The Main One, Odin?
In this solar system, there are three K-type main sequence stars, or "orange dwarves", named Odin, Vili and Ve. At the center of this solar system, Odin is 80% the mass of our sun. The middle star, ...
12
votes
5answers
1k views
In order to successfully have 3 orbital rings around a planet how do you have to orient them?
I am writing a short story about an overworked planet whose civilization has achieved space elevators and orbital rings.
The planet, which is earth-sized, has three complete orbital rings in stable ...
5
votes
1answer
139 views
How many terrestrial moons can my planet hold?
I have a Gas Giant with 13x the mass of Jupiter. How many satellites of Earth size and mass can it hold safely in its orbit?
Edit: This gas giant lies smack dab in the middle of its parent star's (...
6
votes
3answers
212 views
Super earth habitability
I'm trying to build a super Earth that's capable of sustaining human life for space exploration in a way that's close to reality. So far I'm lacking some understanding of planetary science and human ...
11
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4answers
2k views
Where should a runway for a spaceplane be located?
If a spaceplane like the Rockwell X-30 existed and was flying to a location in geostationary orbit, would it be substantially more efficient to take off from a runaway at the equator, or would it not ...
2
votes
0answers
127 views
I'm inventing a new calendar. What are good criteria for the choices of first day, first year, and first hour? [closed]
I'm inventing a new calendar:
It will be used worldwide.
It uses an intercalary (366th) day to be inserted every 4 years.
If extremely successful (unlikely I know), it will replace the Gregorian ...
10
votes
1answer
167 views
Moons in Binary Orbit
Writing a werewolf story, and decided for a bit of flair, so I wanted two moons in orbit. Did a bit of digging, and I found out that to do that, I'd need to either have them in separate orbit (no ...
3
votes
5answers
161 views
Axis of rotation of a wheel space station [duplicate]
Is it possible for the axis of rotation of a rotating wheel space station in orbit to be aligned with the center of the Earth?
I'm wanting a situation where a person on the station could look out one ...
2
votes
4answers
176 views
Rotation period of a planet around a star (sun)
Is it possible for a planet to be much further away from its star than earth is from the sun (because for example the star is much brighter/Hotter) yet still have a comparable (as in not tens if not ...
8
votes
3answers
258 views
Which moon is most favourable as a refuelling station?
My hypothetical gas giant has five major moons. Three of those moons are icy bodies with abundant water ice and volatiles. Any of these could provide fuel for translunar spacecraft, or for spacecraft ...
10
votes
3answers
464 views
Can I render satellite deployment impossible, or at least impractical, by exploiting the Kessler syndrome?
I want to render impractical the deployment of satellites by exploiting the Kessler syndrome.
Why, you ask? Maybe I'm an evil overlord and I don't want those pesky satellites flying over my lair.
...
7
votes
1answer
1k views
Could a rotating ring space station have a bolo-like extension?
If the outer ring of a rotating space station was producing the equivalent to 1G, but a higher G was needed could in small modules, could a bolo-like attachment be included with the ring to accomplish ...
0
votes
5answers
146 views
Is it possible to move planets to get them nearer to Earth? [closed]
Could we move rocky planets such as Mercury, Venus, and Mars to be closer to Earth's orbit?
I know it sounds like a silly question and it's impossible right now, but if there is a small possibility, ...
7
votes
1answer
296 views
Brown Dwarf Star vs Gas Giant as parent for habitable moon
I seek to build a habitable moon of a giant planet, thus I looked at the Rouche Limit Equation to figure out how to get the biggest possible Hill Sphere for my moon to exist in.
$r_H = a(1-e)\sqrt[3]{...
4
votes
1answer
120 views
Would life be possible on a planet that has an axis of rotation that always “pointed” directly at the sun? [duplicate]
Preface: I'll be calling call the orbit described in the question title a "solar-oriented orbit" for the sake of convenience, as "a planet that has an axis of rotation that always pointed directly at ...
15
votes
7answers
3k views
If a planet has 3 moons, is it possible to have triple Full/New Moons at once?
In the story I created, the Kingdom of Oneirou has 3 Moons--Artemis, Rahu, and Zorya--all of which have their own independent lunar cycles.
However, it's officially stated as early as Chapter 2 or 3 ...
3
votes
3answers
93 views
Object in the orbit or orbiting Uranus's moon Puck
I realize the response to this question is fairly involved but here goes. I need to have an alien spacecraft either in orbit around Uranus's moon Puck or somewhere in Puck's orbit around the planet if ...
2
votes
5answers
226 views
Can multiple similar planets share the same orbit without interfering with each other too much?
Let's go with an example. Three planets, all of roughly earth's size, follow the same orbit around a star with a mass of roughly 1 sun. Basically, all three planets are almost identical to Earth, ...
12
votes
10answers
2k views
Make solar eclipses exceedingly rare, but still have new moons
Given a system similar to the Earth/Moon/Sun system, how would one go about making solar eclipses rarer than they are here on earth, but keep new moons similar to how they currently are (or at least ...
33
votes
17answers
6k views
How could a planet have erratic days?
I want to describe a world where one doesn't know how long the day will be. It can be anywhere between 18 and 30 Earth-hours. Would such days be possible in our reality?
2
votes
1answer
159 views
Meterology of double planets sharing an atmosphere
If two planets were tidally locked and shared an atmosphere, as described in this question, what would the weather patterns of the planets be like? What weather patterns would form, and could these ...
0
votes
1answer
122 views
What would the moon look like if its orbit was highly inclined?
How would the phases of the moon change depending on the inclination of its orbit with respect to its primary's equatorial plane? Earth's moon has an orbit that is rather close to the ecliptic, but ...
14
votes
4answers
5k views
Would mining huge amounts of resources on the Moon change its orbit?
Imagine that humanity builds mining facilities on the moon. We know that the moon has Helium-3 which could be used as fuel for fusion reactors. Also, there are a lot of other resources which could be ...
8
votes
1answer
156 views
Habitable world orbiting a gas giant orbiting a gas giant
How likely would a habitable world be that orbits a gas giant that itself is orbiting a larger gas giant? Assuming one exists, what are the likely conditions?
8
votes
1answer
133 views
Planet with big axial tilt, but very close to its star
It is known that when a planet orbits very close around its star, the tidal effects will soon (on an astronomical scale) force the day and the year of the planet to have the same length, making the ...
1
vote
3answers
108 views
Is it possible for the remnants of a planet to be locked in orbit around another in a dual planet system?
I'm envisioning a double-planet system where both orbit around a central point. One planet is approximately Earth-sized, while the other is about one-tenth the size.
One of the planets (the smaller ...
1
vote
3answers
80 views
Types of life on a planet in a sun-synchronous orbit?
Basically, a sun-synchronous orbit is where one side of an object is always facing a star as it revolves around it (much like our Moon is, which is where the phrase 'dark side of the moon' originates')...
4
votes
1answer
64 views
Orbital Resonance & Tidal Locking
I'm building a habitable world tidally locked to a red dwarf star. In order to affect a tide and other weather patterns I was going to have another planet closer to the star that has an orbital ...
7
votes
5answers
245 views
160 Year Solar Orbital Period & 1.9 Year Moon Orbital Period - Is it possible?
A defining factor of my world is the hardships inhabitants have to face when surviving long seasons. Due to the extreme length of a year, time is largely measured by moon cycles. I need to make sure ...
2
votes
1answer
257 views
Only changing the mass of the moon, how much can lunar mass increase before the Earth becomes uninhabitable?
Bonus: How much would the increase in lunar mass increase average tides? & which factors would cause the Earth to become uninhabitable?
10
votes
5answers
354 views
Tides with 3 Largish Moons
I would like to have an Earth-like planet (~Earth gravity, ~Earth day, ~Earth year, and liquid water oceans) with extreme variance in its tides. I want the lowest tide to reveal about 30 miles of ...
-3
votes
1answer
285 views
In a world with 12 moons but NO sun, how to define a day? [closed]
I made the map of my fantasy world before thinking about the physics, as you can see bellow the art!
I'm interested to understand how to decide which moon is in the sky at a given moment, if it's ...
29
votes
14answers
6k views
How can I launch a projectile to hit something in orbit, using only geological structures and power sources?
As an ancient organism whom currently occupies a large chunk of a planet beneath the surface, I have a pesky issue with an invasive species. These humans have decided to colonize my home, mistaking it ...
1
vote
2answers
254 views
Can a planet's atmosphere be in orbit around the planet? [duplicate]
Imagine a planet somewhat like Saturn except that its rings are its atmosphere instead of rocks and ice.
Is this theoretically possible?
(a) If so, what conditions would need to be true and what ...
7
votes
4answers
413 views
Would a portal to space enable propulsionless orbital launch
I'm writing a story about a race that has space travel capabilities without rocket technology, instead is using a portal to space and was wondering whether it's possible for them to put something in ...
0
votes
1answer
90 views
Could a synchronously-rotating planet in the goldilocks zone exist? [duplicate]
An earth like planet in terms of lots of water and an atmosphere. The liquid water on the sunny side would evaporate due to the extreme heat and the snow and ice on the dark side would never melt due ...
8
votes
2answers
157 views
Calculating an eccentric enough orbit to allow a dip into atmosphere and escape again
How would I calculate if it is possible to have an eccentric enough orbit around a gas giant to dip the periapsis some depth(how deep?) into the atmosphere of a gas giant like Jupiter or Saturn and ...
17
votes
9answers
4k views
How difficult would it be to turn the Asteroid Belt into a single body? What's the best method?
The Emperor (may he live forever) plans to visit the Solar System on a rare royal visit in ten years' time. The Bureau for Interplanetary Tidying have decided that the Asteroid Belt is an eyesore that ...
6
votes
2answers
79 views
Independently Tidelocked Moon?
Simple question that might seem odd. Not going to get too specific but I am curious, more or less, as to what it would look like for a planet that had a moon (A habital one) which was in essence ...
7
votes
1answer
184 views
Determining this horseshoe/co-orbital moon's possible orbital periods
I've been working on a system with a habitable moon (Moon A) for a story, and I'm now trying to populate the other moons around the parent planet. I'm considering placing one (Moon B) in a co-orbit, ...
3
votes
3answers
235 views
A planet that cannot be orbited [duplicate]
I'm wondering if it is possible for a planet to be impossible to orbit stably over a significant length of time. The shorter the length of time the planet can be orbited for, the better. It should ...
7
votes
3answers
463 views
Practicality Of Orbital Fusion Reactors for Power
Much of the struggle with terrestrial fusion power seems to be with keeping the ultra-hot plasma contained. In a classic Tokamak configuration, magnets using massive amounts of power, suspend the ...
8
votes
2answers
347 views
Harvesting resources from a geostationary point 100km above sea level
Consider a planet which is entirely Earth-like. Same mass, same rotation, etc. But in this world, resource-rich objects are suspended by some phenomenon at varying altitudes up to 200km above sea ...
7
votes
1answer
111 views
Co-orbits and Tides
I've seen many questions about tides and tidal variations on a wide variety of interesting single star, multi star, single planet, binary planet, single moon, multiple moon, and even ring system ...
2
votes
1answer
106 views
Earth tilt changes due to space launches
How many rocket launches are needed to change the axial tilt of the Earth so much that it is noticeable with instruments available today?
We can assume that we are talking about the heaviest rocket ...
2
votes
2answers
120 views
Artificial satellite in a Binary Star System
Is it possible for an artificial satellite (in this case, an unmanned communications platform) to maintain a stable orbit directly around the barycenter of a Binary Star system, as in well inside the ...
