In orbit you have to slow down to speed up

Posted by beardyw 10/24/2025

In orbit you have to slow down to speed up(www.wired.com)

85 points | 95 commentspage 3

zara762 6 days ago|

[dead]

pfdietz 6 days ago|

This is a consequence of the virial theorem of mechanics.

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

This theorem also lets you conclude that as a nondegenerate star becomes more tightly bound (smaller, for a given mass) it must also become hotter.

(Why did someone downvote this?)

terminalbraid 5 days ago|

I'll posit it's because the virial theorem is applicable to the time average of a stable system and is therefore a specific case. The time average is not a requirement for this discussion (i.e. dynamics) and invoking that theorem is unnecessary. Ergo it is not a consequence.