20 Mar
2013
20 Mar
'13
6:53 a.m.
Interesting! Is there a particular insight that makes this obvious; e.g., would an ellipse-shaped object which didn't intersect the Earth's surface hold its shape? A very large object intersecting the Earth's surface could obviously not be in orbit, as it would be fixed to the Earth. At 04:46 PM 3/18/2013, meekerdb wrote:
On 3/18/2013 12:43 PM, Henry Baker wrote:
If the arch in St. Louis had been a bit larger -- i.e., such that its span were not negligible compared with the radius of the round Earth -- what would be its ideal shape?
A segment of an ellipse with one foci at the center of the Earth.
Brent Meeker