Timeline for Given r/a, what are the limits on the direction that an orbiting body could be moving (e.g. solid angle vs r/a)?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 11, 2019 at 7:21 | vote | accept | uhoh | ||
| Dec 9, 2019 at 12:22 | comment | added | uhoh | Yes indeed! I've added a supplemental answer; for some reason I can't feel comfortable with all directions are possible ($4 \pi$ solid angle) at any $r/a$. I guess there is a one-to-one relationship between angle and eccentricity, but perhaps it's the range of eccentricities that's limited, not the angle. | |
| Dec 9, 2019 at 12:20 | vote | accept | uhoh | ||
| Dec 9, 2019 at 12:20 | |||||
| Dec 9, 2019 at 12:11 | history | edited | notovny | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 309 characters in body
|
| Dec 9, 2019 at 11:47 | comment | added | notovny | @uhoh Yes, no limits on the direction. If the the velocity vector is perpendicular to the radial vector $r$, then the orbiting body is either at apoapsis or periapsis for its current orbit, depending respectively on whether $r/a > 1$ or $r/a < 1$. | |
| Dec 9, 2019 at 11:37 | comment | added | uhoh | No limits on the direction at all? Can $r/a$ equal 0.5 or 1.5 and the direction be perpendicular to the radial vector $\mathbf{r}$ at the same time for example? I think that for a given $r/a$ there is a one-to-one correspondence between angle and eccentricity. | |
| Dec 9, 2019 at 10:09 | history | answered | notovny | CC BY-SA 4.0 |