Posted on 08/12/2017 5:46:32 PM PDT by ETL
About 1,000 mph rotation speed IIRC? Those old B57 were a lot slower than that.
http://eclipse2017.org/blog/2016/11/27/how-fast-is-the-shadow-moving-across-the-us-during-the-eclipse/ says that the speed varies between 1462 and 2410 mph (slower in the middle because the ground is horizontal relative to the shadow). An SR-71 could keep up with the shadow while the WB-57 will just extend the eclipse some.
I think it's closer to 900 mph at the equator, and of course slower as one moves towards the poles.
In any case, in order to keep up with a ground point on the equator from a high altitude, one would have to travel a good deal faster than the 900 mph speed the ground is moving since they'd be at a greater radius from the center of the planet's rotation.
Same principle as for the earth's equator rotating faster than latitudes north and south of it, the circumference along the equator being larger than at those other latitudes. All points, regardless of latitude, take 24 hours to rotate once around. And when the circumference is smaller the rotational rate is slower, and faster when the circumference is larger. ie, a point along a relatively tiny 10ft-radius circle centered on the earth's north or south rotational point would still take 24 hours to revolve once.
Makes sense when thought about. So depending on the tilt of the ground track relative to distance from the equator, matching speed may be fun. Odd the article did not touch on that aspect.
Never even saw one at Edwards AFB. Do they still do cart starts on them?
Strip out all of the weapons, update them, and you can fit a football field of modern avionics in one.
Last time I saw them they were putting new wing spars in them at Ellington AFB (late 70’s early 80’s. Sitting right next to the U2C.
You would just need to know the altitude of the plane, add to it the earth’s radius (approx 4,000 mi), then use the sum as “r” in the formula for a circumference: 2pi x r = C
I’m majorly confused. How does Mercury ( closet to sun) go from a toasty 800 degrees to several hundred degrees below zero in a 59 day rotation...... when Earth varies from 100 degrees to minus 30 or so in a 1 day rotation?
are they saying whenever the sun is not directly shining on a planet, it plunges into deep freeze? .....and because the Earth spins so quickly, the effect of not getting warmed by the sun during night is disapated by it’s quick spin?
Mercury is total vacuum, which does not transfer heat of course. Other than conduction, no way for that hot side to heat the cold side.
I gather the moon had some wild extremes as well.
Oh yeah, might check if Mercury even rotates on it’s axis or just keeps one side toward the sun like the moon does with earth. Not that much into planetoogy.
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