Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

How much mass does an object in low earth orbit need to create visible gravitational effects on the surface?

+0
−0

The question stems from watching a scene from ID2 and seeing the massive alien mothership landing/crashing on the North Atlantic.

What mass would a starship, or any other artificial object constructed in low earth orbit, need to be to start to create noticeable gravitational disturbances for the planet or spatial object it is orbiting?

By 'noticeable', I mean something like higher tides that can clearly be linked to the object in orbit or a slight shift in the orbit of the planet. Not something that only some precise instrument can measure and that scientists can determine through mathematical formulae. Something that would have the leaders of the planet think that it is time to get the construct away.

Is there a general rule, like 'at 10% of the mass of the planet', or does it vary depending upon what you are orbiting? Ie '10% the mass of a planet but 25% the mass of a G-type star'?

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/127616. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

0 comment threads

0 answers

Sign up to answer this question »