If we have two stars 1 light year apart orbiting a galactic center at the same radius from that center what stops those two stars from being drawn towards each other by their garvitational attraction and eventually merging or destroying each other?

If we have two stars 1 light year apart orbiting a galactic center at the same radius from that center what stops those two stars from being drawn towards each other by their garvitational attraction and eventually merging or destroying each other?

The exact same thing that keeps us and the other planets from crashing into the sun, QQ. It doesn't matter if the bodies are stars, planets, natural or artificial satellites - what keep them apart is inertia.

That becomes reduced over time by natural tidal forces and if nothing else happens, like a star going nova or becoming a red dwarf, etc., then they WILL eventually contact each other.

...It doesn't matter if the bodies are stars, planets, natural or artificial satellites - what keep them apart is inertia...Sure it matters -
Only stars can read Newton's laws in each other's light and know how to behave. :rolleyes:

By edit: (Dumb-blond stars excepted, as many of them can't read and they may not behave properly.) :cool:

Sure it matters -
Only stars can read Newton's laws in each other's light and know how to behave. :rolleyes:

By edit: (dumb-blond stars excepted as many of them can't read.)
Har! :D

In an attempt to regain a serious scientific attitude here:
The thread starter might have had a relativity question in mind, but, I am not going to try to first guess the question and then try to, (as usual ) guess the answer. If the starter were to restate the topic, I will give it a try.

Otherwise, I believe it has already been solved capably.

Actually the question I think is quite straight forward. Unfortunately to state inertia as the reason doesn't seem to be adequate given that we have such little understanding of what exactly inertia is.

In the past others have sited angular momentum as the reasion for the stars maintaining their separation however in this scenario both stars are orbiting at the same radius and as far as I can see have no reason to stay apart over the millions of years involved in their life cycles.
It is true that they are able to maintain their radius [orbit]to the galactic center due to their momentum but what stops them from comming together on the same orbital path?
I am sorry if this seems such a silly question but if someone could indulge me with an answer i would appreciate it.

>> then they WILL eventually contact each other.

no, not in my analysis

as long as the galactic centre is emitting energy, the two bodies in question will actually move away from the centre.

Remember motion of magnetic matter in a magnetic field produces an electric field which has an induced magnetic moment,,,Lenz's law
The induced magnetism actually repells the bodies away from the centre

That becomes reduced over time by natural tidal forces and if nothing else happens, like a star going nova or becoming a red dwarf, etc., then they WILL eventually contact each other.
Possibly I have misread this part of your post Light.
You are saying here that the stars would eventually come together. POssibky over a few million years.
The question that this provokes is:
Given the vast number of stars that would fit the above mentioned criterea [ distances being a bit greater perhaps ] why is it not observed as a relatively common event? or is it a common event?

Possibly I have misread this part of your post Light.
You are saying here that the stars would eventually come together. POssibky over a few million years.
The question that this provokes is:
Given the vast number of stars that would fit the above mentioned criterea [ distances being a bit greater perhaps ] why is it not observed as a relatively common event? or is it a common event?

I would hazard a guess that it is somewhat common but not as described.

That is stars would become destroyed long before any actual contact by gravity pulling away material and causing a conjoining (merging) of the two bodies over time.

The primary means of orbit decay would be gravity waves or radiation until actual mass began to transfer then the process should accelerate.

read what hatem says. planets are magnets. the sun is a big rock, just like the earth, just under different circumstances. protons, neutrons, electrons are all the same particles, just under different circumstances.

And you are the ultimate genius. Just under different circumstances.

So...how many stars do we see currently in the throws of merging as you would expect them to be doing. I don't know the probability analysis but I would think we should see many many stars in the process of merging.

As this is not the case then I would speculate and suggest that there is something preventing them from doing so. Hence the thread title.
A little animation to show two stars in question. [ the galactic center is in the middle.]

<img src=http://www.ozziesnaps.com/starsapart.gif>

As far as I can tell the two stars that are sharing the same orbital radius have nothing we know of preventing them from merging over time.

And you are the ultimate genius. Just under different circumstances.
correct.

The thing is:
Is this a question that has yet to be answered or has it been adequately answered already?

Or

Is it a valid and useful question?

So...how many stars do we see currently in the throws of merging as you would expect them to be doing. I don't know the probability analysis but I would think we should see many many stars in the process of merging.

As this is not the case then I would speculate and suggest that there is something preventing them from doing so. Hence the thread title.
A little animation to show two stars in question. [ the galactic center is in the middle.]

<img src=http://www.ozziesnaps.com/starsapart.gif>

As far as I can tell the two stars that are sharing the same orbital radius have nothing we know of preventing them from merging over time.

A couple of points.

First we'll just consider the situation as you've shown:

The two stars attract each other and begin to to move towards each other, In order for the leading star to do this it must slow down in its orbit around the center of the galaxy and as a result drops into a lower orbit. The trailing star, as it moves toward the leading,star speeds up in its orbit around the center and climbs into a higher orbit. Thus by the time they line up with the center of the galaxym they will not longer be at the same radius. The leading star will pass inside of the trailing star. It now becomes the trailing star and will continue to fall behind, but slowly gaining orbital speed as it is pulled forward by the other star, and will again begin to climb to a higher orbit.

Eventually the two stars will reach the same relative positions as they had at the start, but with the positions of the two stars reversed. They will then repat the process, "leap frogging" past each other in their orbit around the center of the galaxy.

The other point is that the galaxy contains more than just these two stars. A more accurate representation would have a number of stars ringing the galaxy center. In this case every star has a star in front of it pulling it forward and a star behind pulling it backwards, the two pulls cancel out, and as long as the orbital speed is enough to counter the attraction of the center and the mutual attraction of the stars, the system is fairly stable.

A couple of points.

First we'll just consider the situation as you've shown:

The two stars attract each other and begin to to move towards each other, In order for the leading star to do this it must slow down in its orbit around the center of the galaxy and as a result drops into a lower orbit. The trailing star, as it moves toward the leading,star speeds up in its orbit around the center and climbs into a higher orbit. Thus by the time they line up with the center of the galaxym they will not longer be at the same radius. The leading star will pass inside of the trailing star. It now becomes the trailing star and will continue to fall behind, but slowly gaining orbital speed as it is pulled forward by the other star, and will again begin to climb to a higher orbit.

Eventually the two stars will reach the same relative positions as they had at the start, but with the positions of the two stars reversed. They will then repat the process, "leap frogging" past each other in their orbit around the center of the galaxy.

The other point is that the galaxy contains more than just these two stars. A more accurate representation would have a number of stars ringing the galaxy center. In this case every star has a star in front of it pulling it forward and a star behind pulling it backwards, the two pulls cancel out, and as long as the orbital speed is enough to counter the attraction of the center and the mutual attraction of the stars, the system is fairly stable.
Janus Thanks for that, however when a star lowers it's orbit does it not have the potential to merge with a star already at the lower orbit.

Say we now consider three stars. One star at the lower orbit the other two as shown.

Basically how can a situation of chaos be avoided?
The galaxy...she's a pretty busy place for stars. Especially if they are all shifting orbits etc......

As regards to your last point, would this not suggest that star separation distances should become more symetrical than is observed? [Symetrical... meaning equal distances in all directions between stars]

Janus Thanks for that, however when a star lowers it's orbit does it not have the potential to merge with a star already at the lower orbit.

Say we now consider three stars. One star at the lower orbit the other two as shown.

Basically how can a situation of chaos be avoided?
The galaxy...she's a pretty busy place for stars. Especially if they are all shifting orbits etc......

First off, there's my second point. since the stars are distributed in in an complete circle, the pulls on each other basically cancel out and you would not get the situation as described in your animation as as explained in my first example.

Secondly, the average distance between stars in our galaxy is in the order of 3 lightyears. That means one star per 9 ly³ volume. the volume of an average star like our sun is about 1.4 e 18 km³ and 9 ly³ is of the order of 7.6e39 km³ which is 5.4e21 times larger than the volume of a star. This is the equivalent of placing a one meter³ boulder inside a space 5 times the volume of the Earth. That's a pretty small target with a lot of room for missing.

Fair enough, your point is made, thanks for the insight......

All conjecture aside

what is actually observed is spaced out cosmic matter

see asteroid belt, rings of Saturn, Uranus etc....