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This approximation is standard for planets orbiting the Sun or most moons and greatly simplifies equations. Under Newton's law of universal gravitation , if the distance between the bodies is r , the force exerted on the smaller body is: F = G M m r 2 = μ m r 2 {\displaystyle F={\frac {GMm}{r^{2}}}={\frac {\mu m}{r^{2}}}}
Because of the Moon's synchronous rotation it is not possible to track spacecraft from Earth much beyond the limbs of the Moon, so until the recent Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission the far-side gravity field was not well mapped. Gravity acceleration at the surface of the Moon in m/s 2. Near side on the left, far side on ...
This is a list of most likely gravitationally rounded objects (GRO) of the Solar System, which are objects that have a rounded, ellipsoidal shape due to their own gravity (but are not necessarily in hydrostatic equilibrium). Apart from the Sun itself, these objects qualify as planets according to common geophysical definitions of that
The actual Hill radius for the Earth-Moon pair is on the order of 60,000 km (i.e., extending less than one-sixth the distance of the 378,000 km between the Moon and the Earth). [9] In the Earth-Sun example, the Earth (5.97 × 10 24 kg) orbits the Sun (1.99 × 10 30 kg) at a distance of 149.6 million km, or one astronomical unit (AU). The Hill ...
The square of this quotient is proportional to the parameter (that is, the latus rectum) of the orbit and the sum of the mass of the Sun and the body. This is a modified form of Kepler's third law. He next defines: 2p as the parameter (i.e., the latus rectum) of a body's orbit, μ as the mass of the body, where the mass of the Sun = 1,
Similarly, the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory mission from 2011 to 2012 consisted of two probes ("Ebb" and "Flow") in polar orbit around the Moon to more precisely determine the gravitational field for future navigational purposes, and to infer information about the Moon's physical makeup.
The Moon in a general sense exhibits very little seismic activity but particularly in the frequency bands suited to the study of gravitational waves, the moon exhibits a noise level orders of magnitude lower than found on Earth. [31] [32] [33] Areas on the Moon's surface that are in permanent shadow, such as at the lunar poles, are thermally ...
The Sun is much larger than the Moon, but it is the vastly greater distance that gives it the same apparent size as the much closer and much smaller Moon from the perspective of Earth. The variations in apparent size, due to the non-circular orbits, are nearly the same as well, though occurring in different cycles.