- #1
Albertgauss
Gold Member
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Just quick question: Could you put space stations (or even other small planets) at any aribitrary orbit or any radius in between Jupiter and Mars? Or, if something attempted to do so, would the orbit be unstable, and the object drift to either Mars or Jupiter?
I was reading about Lagrange points, positions of stable orbits around planets and moons. Lagrange points are special, in which small objects compared to the moon or planet can maintain their position with respect to the larger planet/moon. If the smaller mass is not at the Lagrange point, it will fall into the planet or fly away. But if you are far away from a large planet---like way in between Mars and Jupiter---are Lagrange points even worth considering? That is, is the issue or stable VS unstable orbits and Lagrange points only relevant when the object is near large graviational body relative to itself?
I was reading about Lagrange points, positions of stable orbits around planets and moons. Lagrange points are special, in which small objects compared to the moon or planet can maintain their position with respect to the larger planet/moon. If the smaller mass is not at the Lagrange point, it will fall into the planet or fly away. But if you are far away from a large planet---like way in between Mars and Jupiter---are Lagrange points even worth considering? That is, is the issue or stable VS unstable orbits and Lagrange points only relevant when the object is near large graviational body relative to itself?