Astronomers Discover Cosmic 'Superhighways' For Fast Travel Through the Solar System

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The Grim Squeaker
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Astronomers Discover Cosmic 'Superhighways' For Fast Travel Through the Solar System

Post by The Grim Squeaker »

Summary:
Invisible structures generated by gravitational interactions in the Solar System have created a "space superhighway" network, astronomers have discovered. ScienceAlert:
By applying analyses to both observational and simulation data, a team of researchers led by Natasa Todorovic of Belgrade Astronomical Observatory in Serbia observed that these superhighways consist of a series of connected arches inside these invisible structures, called space manifolds -- and each planet generates its own manifolds, together creating what the researchers have called "a true celestial autobahn."
This network can transport objects from Jupiter to Neptune in a matter of decades, rather than the much longer timescales, on the order of hundreds of thousands to millions of years, normally found in the Solar System.

Finding hidden structures in space isn't always easy, but looking at the way things move around can provide helpful clues. In particular, comets and asteroids. [...] "More detailed quantitative studies of the discovered phase-space structures ... could provide deeper insight into the transport between the two belts of minor bodies and the terrestrial planet region," the researchers wrote in their paper. "Combining observations, theory, and simulation will improve our current understanding of this short-term mechanism acting on the TNO, Centaur, comet, and asteroid populations and merge this knowledge with the traditional picture of the long-term chaotic diffusion through orbital resonances; a formidable task for the large range of energies considered."
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/48/eabd1313

So, Interstellar had it right with wormholes and highways? Or is SW hyperlanes the more correct analogy? :P
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Re: Astronomers Discover Cosmic 'Superhighways' For Fast Travel Through the Solar System

Post by TommyJ »

The discovery that you have found will bring us closer to what is right and what is not. It may happen that in other studies there is confirmation of the second theory. Or maybe there is a third and fourth way to move objects at such distances.
Science is now at its best in terms of opportunity. But not everywhere has sufficient funding, unfortunately. Sorry for deviating from the topic. But it seems to me that it is very important to sufficiently attract attention and finance to such studies
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Re: Astronomers Discover Cosmic 'Superhighways' For Fast Travel Through the Solar System

Post by Ziggy Stardust »

I don't entirely understand what they are talking about. Is this some gravitational anomaly that somehow speeds up the orbits of objects that pass through it? Like some super effective version of a slingshot/gravity assist maneuver?
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Re: Astronomers Discover Cosmic 'Superhighways' For Fast Travel Through the Solar System

Post by Eternal_Freedom »

Pretty sure I read about this years ago, though IIRC that was a series of minimum-fuel trajectories using slingshots and Lagrange points.
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Re: Astronomers Discover Cosmic 'Superhighways' For Fast Travel Through the Solar System

Post by Jub »

I'm pretty tired and not at all an expert on the subject, but this doesn't seem like anything more than a surprisingly short and stable orbit that captures fresh objects at periods based on the orbital motions of the largest bodies in the solar system. It's a very neat discovery that will help us track objects and understand their motion better. It isn't likely to be anything useful for human transport unless we're looking to spend a decade getting between Jupiter and Neptune, don't mind sharing a lane with a lot of space rocks, and don't mind waiting for a period where these orbits form to send something.
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Re: Astronomers Discover Cosmic 'Superhighways' For Fast Travel Through the Solar System

Post by TimothyC »

Eternal_Freedom wrote: 2020-12-15 12:03pm Pretty sure I read about this years ago, though IIRC that was a series of minimum-fuel trajectories using slingshots and Lagrange points.
From what I understood of this paper, that's what it is.
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Re: Astronomers Discover Cosmic 'Superhighways' For Fast Travel Through the Solar System

Post by TommyJ »

It's a pity there are no likes here. Although I would like to thank Jub. For explaining the complex in simple language. Thank you. I didn't even have to call the explanatory team))
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Re: Astronomers Discover Cosmic 'Superhighways' For Fast Travel Through the Solar System

Post by Zwinmar »

Only thing I can think is "well shit, we are slated for removal to facilitate a super highway ..."
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Re: Astronomers Discover Cosmic 'Superhighways' For Fast Travel Through the Solar System

Post by Bedlam »

Zwinmar wrote: 2020-12-16 02:04pm Only thing I can think is "well shit, we are slated for removal to facilitate a super highway ..."
Better go file that objection at Alpha Centuri while we still got time.
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