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The gravitational field of the Moon has been measured by tracking the radio signals emitted by orbiting spacecraft. The principle used depends on the Doppler effect, whereby the line-of-sight spacecraft acceleration can be measured by small shifts in frequency of the radio signal, and the measurement of the distance from the spacecraft to a station on Earth.
It is a generalisation of the vector form, which becomes particularly useful if more than two objects are involved (such as a rocket between the Earth and the Moon). For two objects (e.g. object 2 is a rocket, object 1 the Earth), we simply write r instead of r 12 and m instead of m 2 and define the gravitational field g(r) as:
Considering the Earth–Moon system as a binary planet, its centre of gravity is within Earth, about 4,671 km (2,902 miles) [24] or 73.3% of the Earth's radius from the centre of the Earth. This centre of gravity remains on the line between the centres of the Earth and Moon as the Earth completes its diurnal rotation.
Earth's sidereal day would eventually have the same length as the Moon's orbital period, about 47 times the length of the Earth day at present. However, Earth is not expected to become tidally locked to the Moon before the Sun becomes a red giant and engulfs Earth and the Moon. [10] [11] For bodies of similar size the effect may be of ...
The gravitational pull of the lunar surface is about 1/6 that of Earth's, meaning a person who weighs about 100 pounds would feel closer to just 17 pounds on the moon.
Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have synchronized the Moon's orbital period (lunar month) with its rotation period at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always face Earth. The Moon's gravitational pull is the main driver of Earth's tides. In geophysical terms, the Moon is a planetary-mass object or satellite planet
Vector field (blue) and its associated scalar potential field (red). Point P between earth and moon is the point of equilibrium. In physics, a gravitational field or gravitational acceleration field is a vector field used to explain the influences that a body extends into the space around itself. [1]
In order to be considered a "mini-moon," an incoming object must reach Earth at a range around 2.8 million miles and at a steady space of about 2,200 mph, according to Marcos.