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originally posted by: ABNARTY
Nothing to get excited about?
Maybe that dude is in the wrong business. I am not an astronomer and I think it's pretty cool.
Makes you wonder what else is 'really' out there versus what's 'expected' to be out there
originally posted by: CranialSponge
a reply to: Cosmic911
Interesting !
It's things like this that get me wondering just how far do the gravitational tentacles of our solar system reach out into the galaxy ?
originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
originally posted by: CranialSponge
a reply to: Cosmic911
Interesting !
It's things like this that get me wondering just how far do the gravitational tentacles of our solar system reach out into the galaxy ?
It actually extends for as far as the Universe does. It just gets really weak.
originally posted by: wildespace
originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
originally posted by: CranialSponge
a reply to: Cosmic911
Interesting !
It's things like this that get me wondering just how far do the gravitational tentacles of our solar system reach out into the galaxy ?
It actually extends for as far as the Universe does. It just gets really weak.
Yes, but in practical terms, every object's (or a system of objects') gravity eventually ceases to be relevant out to a certain distance where the gravity from other objects or systems becomes more prevalent. I think what Cosmic911 meant is the Solar System's sphere of gravitational influence. Such a region of space around any source of gravity is called the Hill sphere.
One simple view of the extent of the Solar System is the Hill sphere of the Sun with respect to local stars and the galactic nucleus: adsabs.harvard.edu... This linked paper gives the radius of the Sun's Hill sphere (with respect to the galactic core) as 230,000 AU which is approximately 3.6 light years. This is more than half-way to the nearest star system Alpha Centauri, which is approx twice as massive as the Sun, so the effective radius of the Sun's Hill sphere would be much smaller (perhaps out to 2 light years?)
originally posted by: ABNARTY
Nothing to get excited about?
Maybe that dude is in the wrong business. I am not an astronomer and I think it's pretty cool.
Makes you wonder what else is 'really' out there versus what's 'expected' to be out there