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Roche limit

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Roche limit the closest distance that a celestial body held together only by its own gravity can come to a planet without being pulled apart by the planet's tidal (gravitational) force. This distance depends on the densities of the two bodies and the orbit of the celestial body. Inside the Roche limit, orbiting material will tend to disperse and form rings , while outside the limit, material will tend to amalgamate to form celestial bodies. The French mathematician and astronomer Edouard Roche first enunciated this theoretical limit in 1848.

If a planet and a satellite have identical densities, then the Roche limit is 2.446 times the radius of the planet. Some satellites, both natural and artificial, can orbit within their Roche limits because they are held together by forces other than gravitation. Jupiter's moon Metis and Saturn's moon Pan are examples of natural satellites that survive despite being within their Roche limits—they hold together largely because of their tensile strength. A weaker body, such as a comet , could be broken up when it passes within its Roche limit. For example, comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's decaying orbit around Jupiter passed within its Roche limit in July, 1992, causing it to break into a number of smaller pieces. All known planetary rings are located within the Roche limit, and may be either remnants from the planet's protoplanetary accretion disc that did not amalgamate into satellites or fragments from a body passed within its Roche limit and broke apart.

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Roche limit

A Dictionary of Astronomy | 1997 | Copyright

Roche limit The distance from the centre of a planet within which any large satellite would be torn apart by tidal forces. The Roche limit lies at approximately 2.46 times the planet's radius, if the planet and satellite have similar densities. Within the limiting distance no major satellite could form, although small, strong objects such as artificial satellites can survive well within this distance. All four major planets have ring systems within the Roche limit. It is named after the French mathematician Édouard Albert Roche (1820–83).

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Roche limit

A Dictionary of Earth Sciences | 1999 | | Copyright

Roche limit The distance within which the tidal forces exerted by a planet are sufficient to disrupt a satellite or smaller body. For bodies in circular orbits with zero tensile strength and the same mean density as the primary, the Roche limit is 2.46 × (primary-body radius). In the case of the Earth—Moon system, the critical distance is 2.89 Earth radii (18 400 km).

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AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "Roche limit." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "Roche limit." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-Rochelimit.html

AILSA ALLABY and MICHAEL ALLABY. "Roche limit." A Dictionary of Earth Sciences. 1999. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O13-Rochelimit.html

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