posted May 26, 2016 11:01 AM
I will compare the force of gravity of the star Sirius with the asteroid Eros. Sirius is 8.6 light years away and has a mass of 4x10^30
Fg=GM1M2 divided by R^2
=(6.67x10^-11)(4x10^30)(6x10^24)) divided by ((8.6 x (9.46x10^12))^2
= 2.4 x 10^17 N/KG
Eros is 6x10^13 N/KG
But Eros is quite a small asteroid. Lets try one of the lesser of the major asteroids.
Lets use Doris. Calculated using the gravity formula to have the gravity of 7x10^16 N/KG
I realize I was wrong. I thought the stars effect on us would be minute. But they are actually stronger than many asteroids! At least Sirius is.
Wow. Vesta is 8x10^17. Vesta is a major asteroid that I think is major in charts. On a small level. So a star is actually valid to use in charts.
Just calculated the rest. Alpha Centauri, the triple star system and the closest stars to us, is 1x10^18. More gravitational properties than vesta. That's important. That's the most major one though. All the others nearby that are bright are within the strength range of Doris.
Antares is only 5.8 x 10^14. thats 120x less than Doris's