eli5: I’ve heard orbit described as continuously falling past or missing the Earth, how then do objects in geosynchronous orbit above a single point not fall out of the sky?

Question

eli5: I’ve heard orbit described as continuously falling past or missing the Earth, how then do objects in geosynchronous orbit above a single point not fall out of the sky?

In: 2204

Answer 1

Picture a top that’s spinning (rotating) fast and also drifting aross the table.

To orbit, you need to be moving fast enough and in the right direction to “miss” the top as it travels across the table.

The rotation of the top doesn’t affect the orbit, but it is possible to sync up the orbit around the top to match the rotation.