1 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: What was this object
How am I partially correct? Mathematics minor here. How humans judge distance has nothing to do with the gravitational effects felt by the comet. A few quick (2)(Pi)(r) calculations and then using the time constant to deduce velocity is all you need. With a comet at say a few million miles (very close pass and would look far larger than this), and the rocket at 100 miles (r), I believe you will also find the object would exceed the escape velocity of the Sun. Bye Felicia to Mr. Comet, neither Earth or it would barely notice due to the velocity and distance. There's no reason to involve atmospheric effects as this is not a meteor discussion, and most comets are actually dozens of millions of miles away. Halley as an example, looked similar in size to this.
Comment by GCoyote6 at 03/07/2024 at 14:10 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I'm more interested in considering other scenarios that "might" allow a comet to present the same apparent angular rate-of-change as the misinformed folks in the video. As they have no idea of its actual distance, they have no basis for estimating its speed.
Your math looks fine to me. I should have explained myself better.