Orbital eccentricity - Science, Math and Philosophy Forum

Two Plus Two Forums Other Topics Science, Math, and Philosophy

Orbital eccentricity

Post Reply Subscribe

...

01-22-2010 , 09:41 PM

lastcardcharlie

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 10,435

I've just been looking at these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_eccentricity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperbolic_orbit

So if the eccentricity of an orbit can vary, that means the orbit can go from elliptical through parabolic to hyperbolic, or vice-versa. Has that been observed to happen very much?

Quote

01-22-2010 , 11:42 PM

ctyri

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 6,488

Yes, as you apply a delta-V (+ or -), the orbit changes.

Quote

01-23-2010 , 05:43 AM

Loce

adept

Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 930

Quote:

Originally Posted by lastcardcharlie

Has that been observed to happen very much?

Yes, and this is one of the things that happens: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles

Quote

Post Reply Subscribe

...