Acceleration in an Elliptical Orbit

Click For Summary
In an elliptical orbit around Earth, an orbital satellite experiences varying speeds due to gravitational pull, but occupants remain weightless. This weightlessness occurs because both the satellite and its occupants are in free fall, moving together at the same speed. Although there is acceleration from an external perspective, those inside the satellite do not feel it due to their shared motion. Tidal effects from gravity variations at different orbit points and minor effects from the satellite's mass are negligible compared to the sensation of weightlessness. Thus, occupants do not perceive any acceleration while in orbit.
Geoff Pollock
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
So let's say you are on an orbital satellite in an elliptical orbit around our planet Earth, meaning that the at one point in the orbit you are going faster, due to the gravitational pull of the planet. Would you feel the acceleration in space due to the shape of the orbit?
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
No, you would still be weightless.
 
Borg said:
No, you would still be weightless.
Even with the air pressure?
 
Borg said:
No, you would still be weightless.
Because you are moving with the orbital in the orbit, that would mean you are going the same speed as it? So if it were to go faster, wouldn't you be going faster with it, in hand would you feel acceleration?
 
If an object is in free fall and you are moving in the same way (inside or near it), then you too are in free fall and weightless. From an external point of view, you may be accelerating (and even for a circular orbit, you are accelerating perpendicularly to the direction of the orbit), but since the object and the person are being accelerated by the same amount, they will not notice the acceleration.

(To be really accurate, for a large object you can get tidal effects due to the fact that gravity can vary slightly between the highest and lowest point, and you can also get tiny effects due to the mass of the object itself, but these are negligible compared with normal weight).
 

Thread 'Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transients (LFBOTs)'

UC Berkely, December 16, 2025 https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/12/16/whats-powering-these-mysterious-bright-blue-cosmic-flashes-astronomers-find-a-clue/ AT 2024wpp, a luminous fast blue optical transient, or LFBOT, is the bright blue spot at the upper right edge of its host galaxy, which is 1.1 billion light-years from Earth in (or near) a galaxy far, far away. Such objects are very bright (obiously) and very energetic. The article indicates that AT 2024wpp had a peak luminosity of 2-4 x...
View full post »

Similar threads

High School How Does a Massive Planet's Orbit Around the Sun Appear?
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
2K
Undergrad Is a horseshoe orbit a hyperbolic orbit?
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
Undergrad Can a Satellite Maintain its Angular Velocity with Continuous Low Thrust?
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Undergrad Earth's orbit not perfect ellipse
  • · Replies 19 ·
Replies
19
Views
3K
High School Help with the protocol for accurately recording an orbit for the IAU
  • · Replies 0 ·
Replies
0
Views
678
Undergrad Will an elliptical orbit self-correct into a circular one?
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
4K
Undergrad A New Idea for the Origin of Earth's Water
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
High School Interstellar navigation to Proxima B with an unmanned probe
  • · Replies 28 ·
Replies
28
Views
3K
Undergrad New Developments In The Search For Planet X
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
3K
High School Do changes in speed always affect orbit size, and vice versa?
  • · Replies 30 ·
2
Replies
30
Views
3K