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The article mentions the photon sphere, but is there any source on "orbit multiple times before escaping"? My experience is just in Kerbal Space Program, which
by ToadBoatFording 7y ago
The article mentions the photon sphere, but is there any source on "orbit multiple times before escaping"? My experience is just in Kerbal Space Program, which is a 2-body approximation, but afaik once you are in orbit, you can't escape without changing your velocity. Also, 180 degrees is the exclusive limit of a gravity bend; less than 180 is not an orbit, but as soon as you reach 180 degree bend, it becomes an orbit.
Of course, with 3-body things get much more complicated. For a third body to pull photons out of a photo sphere, fascinating and I can imagine it happening, but I haven't seen any sources along these lines.
- jcims 7y agoWith all of the mass inflow there is likely a very turbulent gravitational environment just outside of the event horizon. This could be sufficent to provide a little transient local lensing to kick a photon back out (or in).