A flow field might be the explaination for the anomalous acceleration. If a flow of particles towards the sun was affected by the presence of a spacecraft producing a wake, a pressure difference might account for the acceleration. The classical analogies would be aerodynamic drag or scattering producing body forces.

A gradient produced by a stretching of space would also affect the planets I think. So pressure gradients or drags would be a more likely explaination. The motion of a light object is influenced more by drag than a heavy one. This might explain why the planets are not affected.

The fact that the acceleration is constant with respect to distance seems peculiar.

A problem with the analysis might be a contributing factor. I always have trouble doing least squares fits. The fitted slope always turns out less than what the eye sees. The fact that the acceleration is so small makes it more likely that this type of problem would creep in. The anomaly is part of a fit to the data.

• Those are interesting thoughts.. - bruce - June 3, 2001 - 20:05 UTC
  • More on the same - jim_b - June 3, 2001 - 21:10 UTC