As we know Solar System consists of galaxies which orbit the Sun. But at the same time, the Sun loses it gravity and attraction power toward these revolving planets because it loses mass and energy constantly and this theory looks logic.
My question : Is there any antithesis which dismisses this theory and if yes why?
2007-12-11 14:58:23 · 2 answers · asked by massood v 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
The Sun will shed significant mass late in its life, and this will indeed affect the orbits of the planets.
The amount of mass it's losing now, due to fusion reactions, is trivial.
2007-12-11 15:15:33 · answer #1 · answered by laurahal42 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In order to obey the law of conservation of angular momentum, the planets will indeed increase the radius of their orbits as the sun loses mass. The equations say that the fractional increase in orbit size should equal the fractional decrease in solar mass.
The sun weighs about 2 Ã 10^30 kg, and it loses mass at a rate of about 4 Ã 10^9 kg per second.
At that rate, the sun will have lost about 0.063% of its mass after 10 billion years (you can verify that with a calculator). This means that, during the same time, we may expect the orbit of Venus to grow by the same amount.
But this amount is only about 68,000 kilometers. This is essentially no change at all! It falls very, very short of the 41 million kilometers needed to reach earth's present orbit.
2007-12-11 23:34:59 · answer #2 · answered by RickB 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋