this post was submitted on 08 May 2024
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Science Memes

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submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Explain to me, how is Jupiter deflecting a significant number of asteroids if it can only be in one place at any one time and its orbit is nearly 12 years long? Wouldn't asteroids have a huge window to get past it while it's on the other side of the sun?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Same thing for Earth, it can only be at one place at anytime, creating a huge window for any asteroid to missed earth. And when it missed, it must loop around and orbit the sun, multiple times, increasing the chance of it got caught in Jupiter's gravitational well, which is a pretty massive distance.

Orbital mechanic is crazy and make no sense for a peasant like me. You would think hitting the sun is the easiest thing but It's actually really hard to launch something into the sun. And would require an enormous energy to do so.

Ever wonder why don't we just launch our nuclear waste into the sun? I thought so too and do some Google search about it. It was an interesting read.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I'm pretty sure I remember reading that Jupiter's "protector" status might also be overblown, as it actually sends asteroids into the inner solar system as well.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

I dont know for sure, but its likely to do with the fact that the asteroids orbit the sun too. Even if the asteroid is coming in on the other side of the sun from jupiter, it has to orbit the sun in order get there in the first, meaning there's a good chance it gets caught by jupiter before it can get close