If we had 3 soho type spacecrart 120 deg apart we could see the complete sun in geostationary orbit. Closer than mercury which is 88 days
2006-10-10 04:15:23 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Using the calculation:
T = 2π√(r³ / μ)
Where:
T = orbital period = 25 days = 2,160,000 s
r = radius of orbit
μ = G×M
G = gravitational constant = 6.6742 ×10^-11 Nm²Kg¯²
M = Mass of the sun = 1.99 ×10^30 Kg
Putting all this in and rearranging to find r, we get:
r = 25,000,000 Km (2 s.f.) [≈ 15,600,000 miles]
So, for an orbit of the sun with period 25 days, the distance from the centre of the sun's mass is approximately 25 million kilometres.
As another answerer has mentioned though, the surface of the sun is not solid and rotates at different rates at different latitudes, but it's an interesting idea though.
2006-10-11 02:14:36 · answer #1 · answered by Dive, dive, dive 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Campbelp2000 gave you the correct answer as to the distance, but your assumption that any meaningful and reliable data could be obtained is wrong. Even in Earth orbit our satellites and spacecraft are always in danger of being put temporarily or permanently out of service by solar flares and magnetic storms. At 15 million miles the flux density baseline would be incredible to say nothing about times of peak activity. Just in terms of heat energy itself the craft would need shielding or become a glob of liquid metal. Mercury attains a temp of 660 degrees F and you are talking about an orbit much closer than that.
Why did you specify 25 days? The sun doesn't rotate at that rate. The sun being fluid rotates at different rates depending on latitude
2006-10-10 14:45:55 · answer #2 · answered by lampoilman 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Find that by using Kepler's 3rd law, which says P^2=A^3, where P is in years and A is in Astronomical Units. If P is 25 days then it is 25/365.25 years. Square that number and then take the cube root of the result to get about 0.16 AU. 1 AU is 93 million miles, so multiply by 93 million to get miles. The result is about 15.5 million miles.
2006-10-10 12:06:34 · answer #3 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It depends how fast the object is travelling. The faster it is travelling, the larger the radius of the orbit, so the question does not have a single answer.
2006-10-10 11:21:59 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
Between six and seven million miles
2006-10-10 11:24:32 · answer #5 · answered by hbsizzwell 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋
11 million miles approx.
2006-10-10 11:29:42 · answer #6 · answered by pageys 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋