Effective Gravitational Potential
- Author:
- Francisco J. Carrera
v1.4
This plot shows the effective gravitational potential per unit mas (in units of the absolute value of the potential energy of the Earth's orbit per unit mass) as a function of the radial distance to the Sun, in Astronomical Units.
The two adjustable parameters are the gravitational energy per unit mass (in units of the absolute value of the potential energy of the Earth's orbit per unit mass) and the angular momentum per unit mass (in units of the angular momentum of the Earth's orbit per unit mass).
The effective gravitational potential per unit mass of the Earht's orbit is always shown as a grey dashed line, as a reference.
The shaded grey area is the permitted part of the effective potential, where all valid orbits should be.
The permitted part of Closed orbits (those with negative energy) are shown as a solid blue line, and the forbidden part as a red dotted line.
The permitted part of the Open orbits (those with zero or positive energy) are shown as a solid green line, and the forbidden part as a red dotted line again.
The locus of a circular orbit is marked as a blue point, if permitted.