How Do Gravitational Slingshots Work?
Guide to Space Ep. 107
How Do Gravitational Slingshots Work?
Airdate: 7/28/2014
Comments (6)
So is it possible to use the Sun for a slingshot using its relative motion in the galaxy, or do we already include its momentum?
No, you can't because, as you said, we're already in orbit around it. But if there was another star system passing by, we could steal some of its momentum.
A few galaxies will clump together, and the rest are flying away from each other. Eventually we won't see any more galaxies in the Universe at all.
How does all this galaxy motion tie in with the expanding universe, are we going to end up with grat super duper clusters all flying away from each other or are we all destined to end up a single lonely galaxies fading to red?
No problem, it always puzzled me. :-)
Thanks...really nicely explained!!