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Rosetta orbit

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Example of an exaggerated Rosetta orbit

A Rosetta orbit is a complex type of orbit.

In astronomy, a Rosetta orbit occurs when an object approaching a black hole with an intermediate velocity (not slow enough to spiral into the hole and not fast enough to escape) enters a complex orbit pattern, bounded by a near and far distance to the hole and tracing an oscillating pattern known as a hypotrochoid. In 2020, scientists using observations made by the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope revealed for the first time that star S2 orbits in this pattern around Sagittarius A*.[1][2]

In quantum mechanics, the Rosetta orbit is a solution for spherically symmetric (except 1/r) potentials.

See also

References

  1. ^ "ESO telescope sees star dance around supermassive black hole, proves Einstein right". ScienceDaily. 2020-04-16. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  2. ^ Jennifer Leman (2020-04-16). "Weird Black Hole-Orbiting Star Proves Einstein Right (Again)". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2020-05-03.