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Noisy Rhysling
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I need a planet to be orbiting it's sun in a polar orbit. Is this a stable configuration?
Doesn't our sun rotate?Bandersnatch said:If it's the only planet, then how do you decide whether the orbit is polar or planar?
Rogue planet capture needs a third body to interact with, otherwise it'll just continue on a hyperbolic trajectory away from the system.
Unless it doesn't have the relative velocity to escape the gravity well of the star, right?Bandersnatch said:Rogue planet capture needs a third body to interact with, otherwise it'll just continue on a hyperbolic trajectory away from the system.
All right, if that's how you define planar, then polar orbits around a star are stable for most practical purposes. If there were any other massive bodies orbiting in the plane or solar rotation, then these would destabilise the polar orbit.Noisy Rhysling said:Doesn't our sun rotate?
Consider that the planet comes from far away, from outside of gravitational influence of the star. As it falls into the gravity well it'll gain just as much velocity as it'll lose on the way out. I.e., if it was not bound to the star in the first place, then it won't become bound at all. Not without interaction with some third body.Noisy Rhysling said:Unless it doesn't have the relative velocity to escape the gravity well of the star, right?
I don't know another way to define it. What have I missed/Bandersnatch said:All right, if that's how you define planar, then polar orbits around a star are stable for most practical purposes. If there were any other massive bodies orbiting in the plane or solar rotation, then these would destabilise the polar orbit.
I'm picturing the wanderer spiraling into the system, not a dive in/dash out incident.Consider that the planet comes from far away, from outside of gravitational influence of the star. As it falls into the gravity well it'll gain just as much velocity as it'll lose on the way out. I.e., if it was not bound to the star in the first place, then it won't become bound at all. Not without interaction with some third body.
No, it's all fine.Noisy Rhysling said:I don't know another way to define it. What have I missed/
It can't just spiral in without a way to lose energy. If you've got a free-floating planet that encounters a lone star, then it MUST fall towards it on a hyperbolic trajectory, swing around, and leave with the same velocity relative to the star as it had at the beginning.Noisy Rhysling said:I don't know another way to define it. What have I missed/I'm picturing the wanderer spiraling into the system, not a dive in/dash out incident.
There's no third body in this setup.snorkack said:It tends to be unstable due to Kozai resonances.
well you could have a neighboring star blow up and blow most to all the junk out from around it ( just a thought)Noisy Rhysling said:Next thing, is a star with almost no "junk" around it uncommon, unlikely, no big deal, or "never going to happen"?
rootone said:It's unlikely that this could easily arise since a star and it's associated planets all form out of the same collapsing dust\gas cloud.
So the larger bodies which form tend to all inherit similar angular momentum.
I don't think there is anything which absolutely rules out that a planet might end up in a polar orbit of it's parent star.
In stellar systems having more than two large stars gravitationaly bound, it sounds plausible.
Then again, that setup might lead to chaotic planet orbits, although a planet might be in a polar orbit of one star for a while.
Yes, it is possible for a solar orbit to be polar. In a polar solar orbit, the spacecraft travels over the poles of the Sun instead of the equator.
The advantage of a polar solar orbit is that it allows for more comprehensive observations of the Sun. This orbit provides a unique view of the Sun's polar regions, which are not visible from Earth.
A polar solar orbit is achieved by launching a spacecraft on a trajectory that takes it over the poles of the Sun. This requires precise calculations and adjustments to the spacecraft's speed and direction.
One of the main challenges of a polar solar orbit is the increased exposure to radiation. In this orbit, the spacecraft is exposed to more intense solar radiation than in a equatorial orbit. This can affect the performance and longevity of the spacecraft.
A polar solar orbit is ideal for missions that focus on studying the Sun's polar regions, such as studying the Sun's magnetic field or solar wind. It is also beneficial for missions that require a constant view of the Sun, such as solar observatories.