The eight planets of and most small celestial bodies in the solar system are basically orbiting the sun on a plane called " ecliptic ". Therefore, we usually think that the solar system is flat, which makes people easily have an idea: since that is the case, if you fly up or down during the process of launching the detector, can you fly out of the solar system quickly?
This seems to make sense, but if you analyze it carefully, we will find that this is not the case. In fact, the solar system refers to the celestial body system , centered on the sun and bound together by the gravity of the sun. In its outermost area, there are actually a large number of small icy celestial bodies running, which together form a spherical structure called the "Ulter Nebula".
That is to say, overall, the shape of the solar system is not flat. Only by flying out of the "UT Nebula" can it be considered to be truly flying out of the solar system. Since the "UT Nebula" is a spherical structure, the flight distance of the detector is the same no matter which direction it is flying in.
On the other hand, "flying out of the solar system" can also be defined as: the detector flies far enough that the gravity of the sun cannot effectively restrict it. As we all know, when the distance is equal, the gravity of the sun is the same in all directions, which means that even if the detector flies upward or downward, it is impossible to have the ability to fly out of the solar system quickly.
Some people may think that there are a large number of small celestial bodies in the "ecliptic plane" of the solar system (such as asteroids, comet ), which are large in number and fast in speed. If the detector flies horizontally relative to the "ecliptic plane", it may "take a detour" by avoiding these small celestial bodies. If the detector flies up or down, this aspect can be ignored, so it can fly out of the solar system quickly.
However, in the past days, humans have launched a large number of detectors. Although most of them are flying horizontally relative to the "zodiac", these detectors will not consider avoiding small celestial bodies. Why? The answer is very simple, that is, the solar system is really empty.
There is a " asteroid belt " between Mars and Jupiter . This is one of the most dense areas of small celestial bodies in the solar system. Currently, there are about 500,000 known small celestial bodies in the "asteroid belt". Considering that there have not been discovered, we might as well double this number, which is 1 million. This seems to be a lot, but it seems very little if you put them in the space occupied by the "Asteroid Belt".
"Asteroid Belt" is a ring-shaped structure, with the distance between the inner edge and the sun being about 2.17 astronomical unit , and the distance between the outer edge and the sun being about 3.64 astronomical units. A simple calculation shows that even if the thickness of the "Asteroid Belt" is not taken into account, the average distance between small and small celestial bodies in this area is as high as 777,000 kilometers. What is this concept?
Let me put it this way. In the space between the earth and the moon, all planets in the solar system except the earth can be put in. As we know, the average distance between the earth and the moon is 380,000 kilometers. Relatively speaking, the average distance between small and medium-sized celestial bodies in the "Asteroid Belt" is about twice the average distance between the earth and the moon, which does not include the thickness of the "Asteroid Belt".
Even the densest areas of small celestial bodies in the solar system are so empty. The overall openness of the solar system can be imagined. With such a degree of openness, the probability of the detector hitting a small celestial body can be said to be slim and completely negligible. The actual situation is indeed the case. Among the many detectors launched in the past, there has never been a situation like hitting a small celestial body.
Of course, small celestial bodies can be ignored, but large celestial bodies must be considered, especially giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn and . However, these large celestial bodies will not hinder the detector. On the contrary, if the calculation is precise, the detector can also use their "gravity slingshots" to accelerate itself, thereby achieving the effect of flying out of the solar system quickly.
For example, the farthest-flying probe at present, "Voyager 1", once continuously used Jupiter and Saturn's "gravity slingshot" to accelerate itself, and its "sister probe" - " Voyager 2 ", has not missed Uranus and Neptune .
It is obvious that if the detector flies up or down, it will not be able to use the "gravity slingshot" of the large celestial body and can only fly on its own power. In this case, the detector will not only not fly out of the solar system quickly, but will instead fly slower, and may even not be able to reach the speed required to fly out of the solar system. After all, the current space propulsion technology of our humans is not as powerful as imagined.
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(Some of the pictures in this article are from the Internet. If there is any infringement, please contact the author to delete it)
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