Re: Gravity Question

On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 20:03:29 GMT, in uk.sci.astronomy , "Pete"
<petenfay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Its a puzzle to me but I have to ask;

If the Sun vanished in an instant would all the orbiting objects instantly
fly off into the universe or would they fly off one by one starting with the
nearest one to the Sun. Newtonian gravity or special relativity?

This seems to be an "is gravity instantaneous or constrained"
question. My understanding is that it is effectively instantaneous,
so everything would head off at a tangent to its orbit, as as the
moment that it became evident the sun had disappeared. The tricky part
would be confirming whether this actually happened or not.
--
Mark McIntyre
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: lets all be normal and acknowlede freedom is real
    ... where the sun is now, and not the position where the sun used to be for ... gravity propagates instantaneously: ... newtonian gravity describes a force on Earth directed ... and general relativity very nearly reproduces ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Perihelion of Mercury with classical mechanics ?
    ... >> To a very good approximation, for nearly circular orbits the radius ... >> of propagation delay in Newtonian gravity is to impart a tangential ... > of the Sun. ... saying the tangential acceleration of the Earth would be proportional ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Re: Gravity Question
    ... Mark McIntyre wrote: ... If the Sun vanished in an instant would all the orbiting objects instantly ... nearest one to the Sun. Newtonian gravity or special relativity? ... So,in your estimation, planetary motion is independent of the solar ...
    (uk.sci.astronomy)
  • Why be a believer?
    ... > SECOND the Universe is incomprehensible in size and by comparison our World ... > Sun, Stars and Planets revolved around the Earth. ... > Acoran [Supreme] ...
    (alt.religion.christian)
  • Re: I too, am paying it forward ;-)
    ... Ever since mankind discovered that the earth wasn't the center of the universe, it's hard to have a believe system based on how the stars appear from earth's perspective. ... Sun in Aquarius: The Way of the Peaceful Warrior ... revolutionary Uranus are all opposed Saturn on January 29, ...
    (rec.music.dylan)