gravity well
Mass's spatial depression
A gravity well is the curved region of spacetime around a massive object like a planet or star, where anything nearby must expend energy to escape.
The metaphor of a well captures how objects "fall" toward the mass and must "climb out" to leave.
The term appears in physics and science fiction: The ship burned fuel to escape Earth's gravity well.
Figuratively, anything that pulls you in and is hard to leave: I fell into a Wikipedia gravity well and lost two hours.
Science of celestial motion
- escape velocitySpeed to overcome gravity
- delta-vSpacecraft maneuver measurement
- trajectoryPath of moving object
- spacecraftVehicle for outer space
satellite · Hohmann transfer · slingshot maneuver · perigee · apogee · geostationary · inclination · launch window
Unable to escape
- inescapableImpossible to avoid
- pullForce toward oneself
- sinkingFalling through water
- escapeFlight from captivity
struggle · stuck · descent · attraction · difficulty · barrier · threshold · commitment
Deviation from flatness
- general relativityGravity as curved spacetime
- EinsteinByword for genius
- geodesicShortest curved-surface path
- warpingBecoming bent or twisted
potential energy · mass · gradient · depression · slope · falling in · depth · steepness
Star-orbiting spherical body
- starLuminous astronomical object
- moonNatural planetary satellite
- asteroidSun-orbiting rocky mass
- cometIcy orbiting body
Earth · Jupiter · solar system · dwarf planet · binary system · stellar · planetary · mass distribution
orbital mechanics
Science of celestial motion
- escape velocitySpeed to overcome gravity
- delta-vSpacecraft maneuver measurement
- trajectoryPath of moving object
spacecraft · satellite · Hohmann transfer · slingshot maneuver · perigee · apogee · geostationary · inclination · launch window · interplanetary travel
trapped
Unable to escape
- inescapableImpossible to avoid
- pullForce toward oneself
- sinkingFalling through water
escape · struggle · stuck · descent · attraction · difficulty · barrier · threshold · commitment · entanglement
curvature
Deviation from flatness
- general relativityGravity as curved spacetime
- EinsteinByword for genius
- geodesicShortest curved-surface path
warping · potential energy · mass · gradient · depression · slope · falling in · depth · steepness
planet
Star-orbiting spherical body
comet · Earth · Jupiter · solar system · dwarf planet · binary system · stellar · planetary · mass distribution · barycenter
- spacespace, sun, moon, stars, star
- gravitygraviton, escape velocity, gravimeter, weightlessness, gravimetry
- weightlessnesszero-g, weightless, weightlessness, floating, free fall
- physics diagramsfree body diagram, circuit diagram, field lines, magnetic field lines, vector field
- space mattermeteor, meteoroid, meteorite, moon, asteroid
- galactic coresupermassive black hole, star cluster, bulge
well, gravity, gravitate, gravitating, gravitated, antigravity, gravitational, microgravity, gravitationally