The Roche Limit

The Roche Limit is the radius inside which a satellite, held together only by its gravity, will disintegrate under the tidal forces of the body about which it is orbiting.

How did the Moon form?

Online references:
Wiki: Roche Limit

Index

References:
Carroll & Ostlee
Ch 19
 
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Roche Lobes

When you draw a set of equipotential curves for the gravitational potential energy for a small test mass in the vicinity of two orbiting stars, there is a critical curve shaped like a figure-8 which can be used to portray the gravitational domain of each star. If you rotate the figure-8 around the line joining the two stars, you produce two lobes known as Roche lobes, after the French mathematician Edouard Roche.

Index

References:
Kaufmann
Ch 21
 
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