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Forbidden planet: was Pluto’s 2006 demotion a big mistake? (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/space@mander.xyz
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[–] 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

searches

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking

However, if both the difference in mass between the two bodies and the distance between them are relatively small, each may be tidally locked to the other; this is the case for Pluto and Charon

They're apparently tidally-locked, so that's one issue out of the way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(moon)

Periapsis: 19 592.61 km

Apoapsis: 19 598.92 km

Eccentricity: 0.000161[10]

So it's pretty close to a circular orbit.

Orbital period: (6 d, 9 h, 17 m)

But it'd still have to change length by about 6 km every 3 Earth days.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago

    But it’d still have to change length by about 6 km every 3 Earth days.

    Maybe this is crazy, but make it a giant jumprope. When they're closer together, the jumprope makes a tighter circle and spins faster. When they're further apart, the jumprope makes a larger circle. Put a weight in the middle so it has enough centripetal force to keep the rope taut.

    Trust me, it works, I thought about it for two minutes.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago*

    If humanity ever were to have the means to build a 12.2k mile or 19.7k km elevator in space between two planets at the far reach of the solar system, I would assume that we would also be capable of somehow making it longer

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