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2.5 Consequences of Gravitational Limits

2.5.1 Earth, Sun and Solar System

The gravitational range of a large object, such as the planet Earth, is limited to a sphere of radius proportional to the cube root of its mass. This gravitational boundary encloses a gravitational zone with a volume proportional to the cube of its radius, that is, proportional to its mass.

The mass of the Earth is about \(6\ 10^{24}\) Kg. This gives a gravitational boundary with a radius of about \(41\ 10^{12}\) km, about 1.33 parsecs. This limit is well outside the Solar System which thereby excludes any possibility of measuring it. For the most massive planet in the solar system, Jupiter, with a mass of \(1.9\ 10^{27}\) Kg, the gravitational boundary is about \(2.76\ 10^{14}\) Km, or about 9 parsecs.

For the Sun, which has a mass of \(2\ 10^{30}\) Kg, the boundary of its gravitational attraction is about \(2.81\ 10^{15}\) Km, or about 91 parsecs. It is clear that the gravitational zone of the Sun encompasses that of all its planets. This is consistent with the fact that within the solar system deviations from Newton's law of gravity are too small to be measured, and consequently, the planets take up Newtonian orbits. Even the comets which are said to originate within the Oort Cloud at 0.6 parsecs, are dominated by the sun's gravity.

In view of the above, it may be postulated that any object with a gravity zone encompassed by that of the Sun, will come under its domination and enter into an orbit. However, this is not the case with other stars in the galaxy, which have gravitational zones which overlap, but are not encompassed by that of the Sun.

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