Tue, May 27, 2008
Aero-Terms!
Aero-Terms are designed to be a daily reminder of the terms,
names, acronyms and explanations of the unique language that
populates the aviation world. Aerospace, sport aviation, fixed
wing, helo, you name it... it's all fair game.
Aero-Terms should serve as a quick but intriguing reminder of
the terms you may use every day, or an introduction to an aspects
of the Aero-World you may not yet be familiar with. ANN also
encourages readers to go beyond the FMI link, and further research
any intriguing terms.
Suggestions for future Aero-Terms are
ALWAYS welcome, as are additions or discussion of the
explanations given for each Aero-Term.
Roche Limit
The Roche Limit was first described by Edouard Roche in 1848. It
is the closest distance a body can come to a planet without being
pulled apart by the planet's tidal (gravitationl) force. As a
result, large moons cannot survive inside the Roche Limit. On July
7, 1992, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke apart into 21 pieces due to
tidal forces when it passed within Jupiter's Roche Limit; on the
subsequent pass, each of the comet's pieces collided with Jupiter.
If a planet and a moon have identical densities, then the Roche
Limit is 2.446 times the radius of the planet. The Roche Limits for
the ringed planets are:
- Jupiter - 175,000 km (108,000 miles)
- Saturn - 147,000 km ( 92,000 miles)
- Uranus - 62,000 km ( 39,000 miles)
- Neptune - 59,000 km ( 37,000 miles)
This limit represents the rough boundary between each planet's
ring system and its innermost moons.
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