As far as i know earth’s orbis is stable.
If i understand it correctly it means that small perturbations in earth’s position or mass won’t change its orbit (like a spring effect that goes back to its rest state unless you break it), but if i simply balance out sun’s newtonian gravity vs the centrifugal force any little change would modify earth’s orbital speed and distance from the sun, so there’s something i’m missing, otherwise anytime a meteor hits or we send stuff to space we would be changing earth’s orbit.
So, IF my initial statement is correct, earth’s orbit doesn’t change for small perturbation, how do we know so? Secondly how big a perturbation would you need to change earth’s orbit?
On the other hand, if earth’s orbit changes with any minumum change, how big of a change in orbit would be needed for us to sebsibly perceive it?
Thanks
In: 4
Source: playing around with cheap online gravity simulators,
I think, what happens is, the perturbations induced by the “players”, in the solar system. [i.e. Jupiter, Mars, numerous small “near-Earth” asteroids] in sum, approach some average value. This value is “probably” in the literal sense, close to 0.
So basically, unless there is an overwhelming influence, from a massive and near object gravitationally, we should be fine.
How that could happen, and us being in a sticky situation: Possibly, in the far future, is if there is an unfortunate orbital coincidence that “constructively interferes”, then, yes, we could have a problem.
Latest Answers