#there isnt even acceleration when there is apparent acceleration to an observer! yes this includes elliptical orbits | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dead-generations · 2 months ago

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orbits are straight lines is the fucked up thing. straight lines described by energy! unless they are three body orbits in which case things get really strange, but they are actually still completely straight lines. just dynamic ones. They aren't just straight, they are constant.

#almost impossible to understand an orbit unless you look at it in multiple reference frames.#and yes I know the term is geodesic but understanding it as a straight line is helpful for understanding the forces involved #yes I know that with perturbations outside forces and station keeping they wont be truly straight.#but its important to understand them as naturally straight paths which are disturbed!#if you understand orbiting as circling an object actively you get weird intuitions that are completely wrong #because if you circle an object in a curved line your momentum is constantly shifting #generating centrifugal forces or “g force” in pilotspeak #but orbits are literally straight lines - ignoring station keeping. more than that they are CONSTANT straight lines. of continuous motion #there is no changing momentum or changing force. no stresses acting upon the object.#there isnt even acceleration when there is apparent acceleration to an observer! yes this includes elliptical orbits #its a constant endless straight line of continuous constant energy.#yes even irregular orbits are straight lines!#of course this is assuming your orbit is stable. unstable orbits are not straight lines.#and really all orbits are more or less unstable. its about matters of degree and time scales #even as the object apparently slows down towards apogee and apparently accelerates towards perigee it doesnt actually. the motions constant #you might think of it as moving through less space in more time and more space in less time respectively if you want to have something like #a workable heuristic for understanding why the apparent acceleration isnt real for the object.#this is actually really important to understand because acceleration acts on the object. apparent acceleration does not its just an artifac #it's only real outside the reference frame and therefore not important for the object. this isn't just a neat trick it really does matter #also yes energy is the correct term don't @ me angular momentcucks #for an engineer angular momentum is just energy you solve for.#“nooo angular momentum is real” astrophysics wojak vs #“just determine your desired orbital radius or period and solve for the required energy to get there” aerospace engineer chad

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