Re:Another Interstellar Object Detected in the Solar System
by lojack on Wednesday September 11, 2019 @10:28PM
(#20947220)
Captured into a stable orbit, sure, but it will never have an eccentricity of 0 (circular). The limit can approach zero, but will never be equal to it. Even the planets don’t have a circular orbit FWIW.
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Re:Another Interstellar Object Detected in the Solar System
by _kst_ on Thursday September 12, 2019 @01:08AM
(#20948194)
An interstellar object cannot be captured into a stable orbit unless some other force (such as Jupiter's gravity) acts on it.
Orbits are time-symmetric, so an interstellar object being captured into a stable elliptical orbit would be equivalent to an object in a stable elliptical orbit escaping the Solar System (again, ignoring other influences).
Re:Another Interstellar Object Detected in the Solar System
by tempestn on Thursday September 12, 2019 @02:41AM
(#20948666)
Is that true of comets as well? It seems conceivable to me that the sun could spin it around such that the comet's off-gassing could reduce its speed and allow it to be captured. Obviously unlikely, and highly dependent on conditions (in particular incoming velocity) but possible.
Re:Another Interstellar Object Detected in the Solar System
by lojack on Thursday September 12, 2019 @09:52AM
(#20951431)
If you're ignoring all other influences then there is no such thing as interstellar objects. By definition, every object in a two body system are gravationally bound to each other.