3 ms·
Your answers seem to be about whether or not there will be a collision at those time points. My curiosity is about visualizing the orbit over time (which inclu
by manaskarekar 9y ago
Your answers seem to be about whether or not there will be a collision at those time points.
My curiosity is about visualizing the orbit over time (which includes a non-zero possibility of collision).
P.S. I doubt you would disagree that speculating about where the Roadster will be when the Sun will be getting colder is fun, and not 'nobody really cares.'
Of course, such simulators are hard and expensive and mostly approximations, but doesn't hurt to ask about what options are out there.
- rtkwe 9y agoOn time scales that large the exact orbit is unpredictable, see the Pioneer Anomaly [0] where the RTGs heat radiating away provides a tiny but non zero deceleration, over huge time spans even tiny forces add up. On top of that it's going to be slightly perturbed by Earth, Mars, and Jupiter in ways that can only really be modeled not solved explicitly.