Re: Solar system building

Wayne Throop wrote:

I don't see why. The coorbital case is quite like "perturbations
alternating direction". First the one is leading and next it's trailing.
Each world is sped up on one encounter, and then slowed down on the next,
by its "partner".

Similarly, one could look at the example I cited with non-equal masses
that way. For half the orbit, the perburbation is one way, the other half
the other way. Mind you, I don't see a way to get a *close* approach,
enough for tidal effects to cause catastrophe, and still have a snowball's
chace of remaining stable, but that's a separate issue, naict.

Well I'm still talking about the context of a very close approach. A close enough approach on one side will perturb the body in question enough so that a "balanced" approach on the other side won't be balanced anymore.

My ultimate point is that a case where forces balances is not necessarily stable. For a situation to be stable, there has to be restorative forces as well -- that is, small perturbations result in restoring forces which put the system back into equilibrium.

--
Erik Max Francis && max@xxxxxxxxxxx && http://www.alcyone.com/max/
San Jose, CA, USA && 37 20 N 121 53 W && AIM erikmaxfrancis
Even numbers scare me / They even set me free
-- Anggun
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