JohnW
Posts: 3217
Joined: Aug. 2006
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| Quote (Henry J @ April 25 2012,20:11) | Speaking of orbital mechanics, I have to wonder, if a small object were orbiting a larger object, far enough away from other objects to avoid interference, would the orbit eventually degrade (one way or the other) due to tidal friction, even if both objects were solid?
Another question - given enough time, would Doppler shifts of the gravity waves between the two objects eventually shift the orbit, even if it takes billions (or trillions?) of years for that to be significant?
Henry |
I think the key word in both questions is "eventually". For any sort of realistic "planet in habitable zone around a star" scenario, I'd expect either process to take many times longer than the lifetime of the star. They don't help Joe, but you probably knew that.
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Math is just a language of reality. Its a waste of time to know it. - Robert Byers
There isn't any probability that the letter d is in the word "mathematics"... The correct answer would be "not even 0" - JoeG
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