Yes, I agree with all of your points. But I don't believe they contradict what I'm asking. If only the length of the object becomes contracted, and not the distance to the object, then around what point in space does the object contract? For example, if you contracted an object around its...
First, let me clarify if my understanding of length contraction is correct. Is it accurate to say that relativistic velocities not only affect the measured length of an object in the direction of motion, but also the distance to the object from an observer in the direction of motion? For...
Thank you! That was the problem.
Because Body1's speed = Body2's speed * (Mass2/Mass1), and v = Body1's speed + Body2's speed, I found Body2's speed = (Mass1 * v) / (Mass1 + Mass2).
The problem was that I thought v represented Body2's speed, not the combined speed of both.
Thanks
Wikipedia states that "In the vis-viva equation the mass m of the orbiting body (e.g., a spacecraft ) is taken to be negligible in comparison to the mass M of the central body."
I'm wondering how the velocity is determined if the satellite's mass is non-negligible. For example, in a binary...