Questions tagged [solar-system]
The Sun plus the collection of bodies in orbit around the Sun such as planets, dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, comets, etc.
727 questions
13 votes
2 answers
3k views
Is it possible for "gas moons" to exist?
Is it theoretically possible for there to be such a thing as a "gas moon" as opposed to a rocky one? Do any laws or models specifically prohibit the formation of gaseous moons?
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0 votes
1 answer
135 views
Is general relativity required to calculate to orbits of Pluto's moons? How to calculate of orbits of the Pluto's moons?
Is general relativity required to calculate to orbits of Pluto's moons? How to calculate of orbits of the Pluto's moons?
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8 votes
7 answers
2k views
Effect of Sun's gravity on an object on the Earth's surface
Can you please explain why we often don't consider force due to the Sun's gravity on an object on Earth? (The relevant topics that I am referring to are frame of reference and free body diagram.) Is ...
0 votes
0 answers
48 views
Is there a site that I can used to make API requests for the positions of the planets in the solar systems? [duplicate]
I am creating a program that calculates orbital mechanics. And one option I want is the ability to use as a starting point the current positions of the Solar System. So is there a site that can I use ...
7 votes
1 answer
1k views
Why doesn't Mars's or Venus's axial tilt change without large moons, but Earth's is believed to?
It is claimed that the moon stabilizes the Earth's axial tilt, but Mars and Venus (and Mercury, too) are rocky planets without large moons. Why are their axes stable?
0 votes
0 answers
186 views
Are simulations really evidence for the giant-impact hypothesis?
The prevailing explanation for the origin of the Moon is the giant impact hypothesis, which proposes that a Mars-sized protoplanet collided with the early Earth. This impact is thought to have ...
- 307
15 votes
5 answers
4k views
Why does Earth have the largest mean density of all the planets in the solar system?
Browsing the density of the planets (and Pluto, Ceres, Sun and Moon) in the solar system, I observe that Earth is the one with the largest mean density: $5494 \ kg/m^3$. Is there a physical reason for ...
- 267
7 votes
2 answers
2k views
I found that we can calculate the time of solar eclipses that will happen in the very far future. Do we need relativity in this calculation?
I found this out while I was reading David Morin's classical mechanics book. He says that we can calculate eclipses using Newtonian mechanics - but isn't Einstein's relativity more accurate?
1 vote
0 answers
272 views
What is the best way for optimisation? (Rocket from Earth to Mars)
I would like to consider a rocket impulse plan from Earth to Mars for my Personal Project (IB-MYP) I am currently working on, and I am a student in high school in Hiroshima, Japan. Could you please ...
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-5 votes
2 answers
294 views
Edited: Is there a fundamental structural uniqueness of galaxies?
[Since this question was really badly received (-5 quickly), I changed it rigorously. Instead of assuming that there's a fundamental difference between galaxies and solar systems - what might be wrong ...
- 143
0 votes
1 answer
175 views
Tilting of the Earth's rotation axis
Was the rotational axis of Earth tilted from the start? If not, then did the bulging of Earth at the equator cause the rotational axis to tilt? If so then what is the physics behind it?
1 vote
2 answers
147 views
Why is the solar system heliocentric? [duplicate]
I've had this question for a long time, and I thought this might be a place to ask it. In my school, we learnt about frames of reference. So, all I want to ask is, why do we say that all planets orbit ...
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1 vote
1 answer
202 views
What is the probability that the Solar system encounters a black hole?
What is the probability that the Solar system encounters a black hole?
0 votes
1 answer
155 views
How cold would it “feel” floating in space in Earth’s orbit? What`s the “effective temperature”?
So, space is cold but there is very little particles to transfer heat away from you in near vacuum. At the same time, the Sun is able to heat the surface of the Earth to temperatures of 50+ degrees ...
- 603
0 votes
0 answers
88 views
Sidereal and synodic motion: Earth, Jupiter and Io
I would need help to understand and derive or relate synodic periods. I have been given the following relationship: $$ \frac{360}{\theta} = \frac{P_{jup}}{{P_{io}}} $$ where $P_{io}$ and $P_{jup}$ are ...
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