Suppose that a lone asteroid happens to be passing Jupiter on an unbound orbit (well above Jupiter's atmosphere and far from all of Jupiter's moons. )Which of the following statements would be true?
A)The asteroid's orbit around Jupiter would not change,and it would go out on the same unbound orbit that it came in on.
B)Jupiter's gravity would capture the asteroid,making it a new moon of Jupiter.
C)Jupiter's gravity would suck in the asteroid,causing it to crash into Jupiter.
D)There is no way to predict what would happen.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Since the asteroid is on an unbound orbit, it is not gravitationally bound to Jupiter. Therefore, Jupiter's gravity would not be able to capture the asteroid or make it crash into Jupiter. Instead, the asteroid would continue on its original path and leave the influence of Jupiter's gravity without having its orbit changed.

Suppose That a Lone Asteroid Happens to Be Passing Jupiter