Here is a nice little quiz question.?

Question

Now assuming you can have a satellite that could stay in orbit forever, is it actually possible to stay in orbit around any planet forever? (if you need a planet just use Earth) Now I do know the answer but with how some people answer questions don't know what they are talking about I just want to see how many people can answer this one.

Answer 1

A universe with only two objects:  A planet (make it a large mass, cold and no atmosphere) and a satellite (put it as far as you want).

If that universe follows the same rules of physics as ours seems to, then the pair forms a gravitational quadrupole: it generates gravitational waves.

Not much, but still, the energy being dissipated by gravitational waves is not zero.

This energy comes from orbital energy, so the the orbit would continually decay.

As the orbit decays, the orbital period decreases (the satellites goes faster AND has less of an orbital distance to cover).  This means an increased rate at which energy dissipates through the gravitational waves.

Higher rate = faster decay = even higher rate = even faster decay...

The amount of energy being dissipated by the pair Sun-Earth is around 300 watts.

In real life (i.e., on our planet, in our universe), there are other factors at play.  The Sun is radiating electromagnetic energy at the rate of 3.85x10^26 watts.   This corresponds to a loss in mass of 4 million tonnes per second (very small compared to the Sun's total mass -- it will continue like this for 5 billion years).

Because the mass of our Sun diminishes, our orbit will eventually get larger.

The Earth raises tides on the Sun (microscopic, but still: not zero).  In the same way that lunar tides on Earth cause the Moon to move away from us (4 cm per year), we are moving away from the Sun (a lot slower).

These two effects more than make up for the measly 300 watts we lose to gravitational waves.

Answer 2

No, not forever. It would either escape, or be pulled in. Even if it had a propulsion system it would run out. Plus the planet would eventually be swollowed by a star. THe satellite would be hit by debris, or supernova or gamma ray bursts, or black holes. But no. It would either escape or be pulled in and destroyed.

Answer 3

Question makes no sense.  Your premise is that it "could stay in orbit forever" and then you ask if it could stay in orbit forever.  As the question addresses the validity of the premise upon which the question is based, it cannot be answered.  BTW, there is still a gravitational pull even far away from a planet.  That force goes on forever, however slightly, until overwhelmed by the gravitational force of another body.  So, you would need a power source to maintain orbit.   Could be solar.

Answer 4

Since I'm not one of the first answerers, does that mean that I can actually have the 10 points for the best answer.  Even I don't actually have an answer.  You are, in fact, correct, I don't know enough about just about anything to even have a say in virtually anything, however, I know people who are smart enough to not ever be on Yahoo---does that qualify?

Answer 5

Sputnik 1 stayed in orbit for only 3 months before it was pulled back to Earth.  That was probably due more to friction with the outer atmosphere than gravity.  Man-made satellites will all eventually be pulled back to Earth because Earth's gravity pulls on them and slows them down.  However, the Moon is actually moving farther away from the Earth.  I won't pretend to understand why, but it has something to do with the tidal effect the moon has on the Earth.  And, since the Moon is moving away from the Earth, even satellites placed at the LaGrange points will eventually return to Earth since the LaGrange point itself will eventually move farther out from the Earth than where the satellite is placed.

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Answer 6

question, could you stay in orbit around a planet forever? no ofcourse not, even the planet has a best before date. planets tendto die as their suns so, the average age of a sun is about 10 billion years. so the same maximum age applies to the planet.

no planet, no orbit around it either.

gravity is not a factor? lol you apparantly dont know much about the laws of motion. for a CIRCULAR ORBIT, you need a constant BALANCE OF FORCES, gravity on one side, pulling the object in, and cetrifugal forces, pushing the object out.

no planet, no gravity and the object would (not instantly accourding to relativity) but eventually after the disapearance of the planet move out of the orbit, and continue in a straight line. so we end up with no orbit!

Answer 7

Gravity is a factor, that's what makes it an orbit. If there's no gravity then the object travels in a straight line until it hits something. I think the issue here is 'forever'. The sun is due to go bang in a few billion years time which means the end of the satellite. Failing that the orbit will be perturbed by the moon, possibly the other inner planets, magnetic and electrical fields, the solar wind, light pressure. So the answer has to be no it won't orbit forever. Now, if the universe consisted of a single planet orbited by a single satellite then yeah, ok it would orbit forever.

Instead of being snotty, tell us your answer.

Answer 8

Baring any outside interference, in outer space an object in motion will remain in motion, forever.