Talk:Roche lobe

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[edit] Hill sphere

Most of the sources I can find seem to indicate that the roche lobe and the hill sphere are really the same thing. (the latter being a spherical approximation of the former?). They both have similar definitions and represent the same concept as far as my understanding goes. However the article on the Hill sphere seems to say that the two must not be confused. Is anyone able to clarify this? (I posted this on the talk pages for both articles, I hope I'm not violating any guidelines?) 69.157.226.139 16:58, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] L1

The article is in error, as the centre of mass of a binary system is not the L1 lagrange point.

Does the article make that claim? I don't see it. Are you saying it is incorrect that "A critical equipotential intersects itself at the center of mass of the system"? --P3d0 02:35, July 16, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] picture

Can anyone find a good picture of this? This article seems like it could use some visuals. --Ignignot 22:10, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Readability

This article may be too technical for a general audience.
Please help improve this article by providing more context and better explanations of technical details to make it more accessible, without removing technical details.

This article needs to be written to be a little more friendly to the non-scientist. Anyone up to the task? -- Renesis13 20:28, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Illustration question

The mesh in the upper portion of the illustration is not well explained. Does it just show the shape of the equipotention in that portion of space, or is it more significant? A shadow-mesh of the actual Roche lobe, would also be helpful, as well as a more firm visual indicator of the lobes themselves (which are actually 3D, not 2D as in the illustration). -- Beland 23:19, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

The Caption contains "L1, L2 and L3 are the points of Lagrange where forces cancel out.", which may or may not be an accurate translation. Not so, except for those who believe in "centrifugal force". At each of the (five) Lagrange points, the combination of the gravitational forces from the massive bodies is the centripetal force which curves the path of a particle at the L-point so that it remains in the same relative position. Suggestion: "L1, L2 and L3 are the Lagrange points in which a particle can orbit in unstable equilibrium.". Also, for general interest, L4 and L5 could be marked. - 82.163.24.100 11:07, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] References?

This article gives no references, except for the image. - Jmabel | Talk 16:34, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] not only stars

The way the introduction to the article is worded, one could be forgiven for thinking the concept only applies to stars for some pecuiliar reason. Also, the issue of the difference to the Hill sphere, raised in a previous comment should be addressed. It would perhaps be easy enough to track down these issues if someone had bothered to reference the article. Deuar 21:06, 16 June 2007 (UTC)