Talk:Kordylewski cloud

L4/5 stability
According to this article, L4 and L5 are unstable. According to the article on Lagrangian points, L4 and L5 are stable. Can someone clear this up? — Che Nuevara: Join the Revolution 21:08, 26 April 2006 (UTC)


 * You are right. It may be a mistake. See Lagrangian Point. — Albireo3000 23:45, 10 September 2006 (UTC)


 * It's correct. The L4 and L5 points of the Earth-Moon system are stable if you only take the Earth and Moon into account, but once you include the Sun they become unstable. The L4 and L5 points of the Sun-Jupiter system (where the Trojan asteroids are), for example, are far more stable, since there are no large objects to perturb them. — Tango 16:25, 7 May 2007 (UTC)


 * If they aren't stable, why do they still have dust clouds ? — Rod57 (talk) 11:31, 5 May 2019 (UTC)

Because the definition of "stability" is very rubbery, and depends on your time frame. In theory, the Earth / Sun / Moon system is "unstable", but the Moon has been in its orbit for a long long time, and will continue to do so for a while. Also, in this rather special context, "unstable" also means that things in them dont stay in place, which is only true for the theoretical mathematical model, not "real life". HOWEVER, things (like these dust clouds) do circle around the points, and also move up and down. Some would consider that to be "unstable". So, to repeat, it's a very rubbery concept. — special:contribs/2001:8003:E422:3C01:4176:214F:31E5:7E52 11:53, 2 February 2022 (UTC)

Photos?
Can we get photos of these clouds? — Misty MH (talk) 18:13, 4 April 2021 (UTC)


 * If you know of any available, they can be included under a WP:NFUR. — Arlo James Barnes 10:32, 16 March 2024 (UTC)