Re: ZetaTalk and Spaceguard UK

Greg Neill wrote:
>  Nancy Lieder wrote:
>> Bill Nelson wrote:
>>> The planets are NOT "pulled inward" or "pulled outward".
>>> The gravitational attraction of the Sun is too great to allow
>>> that.
>>
>> I can see that it might be hard to pull a weighty planet OUT
>> away from the Sun, by this logic, but how about a perturbation
>> that might pull a weighty planet IN toward the Sun.  Why
>> would this not happen?
>
> Orbits of planets are stable because of a balance between the
> gravitational force of the Sun and the outward force due to
> inertia (what is referred to as the centrifugal force).  Under
> these conditions it takes about the same amount of effort to
> move a body inwards towards the Sun as outwards.

What?  The balance of the equation is TIPPED if another large body comes
between it and the Sun.  MORE on the Sun side!  Does the orbiting object
speed up, at this point, so it doesn't drift toward the sun?  Being a
math kind of guy, you could take the F=Ma equation and say "oops, Newton
doesn't work any more, here".  M (combined Sun and perturbing inner
Planet) is greater but a is not affected?  F increases but the object
does not drift in toward the sun as it did not increase its
acceleration?  Did Newton take a vacation?  Do you put your math aside
when it doesn't work?  It's on vacation?  Everyone looks aside so as not
to embarrass Newton and those who insist on rigidity in their lives, to
feel comfortable?  We apply our math EXCEPT when it doesn't work, then
we look aside, momentarily?