Gravitational Motion
In stellar dynamics, a massive body (star, black hole, etc.) can experience Brownian motion as it responds to gravitational forces from surrounding stars. The rms velocity of the massive object, of mass, is related to the rms velocity of the background stars by
where is the mass of the background stars. The gravitational force from the massive object causes nearby stars to move faster than they otherwise would, increasing both and . The Brownian velocity of Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, is predicted from this formula to be less than 1 km s−1.
Read more about this topic: Brownian Motion
Famous quotes containing the word motion:
“till disproportion’d sin
Jarr’d against natures chime, and with harsh din
Broke the fair musick that all creatures made
To their great Lord, whose love their motion sway’d
In perfect Diapason, whilst they stood
In first obedience, and their state of good.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)