The Most Useful Places in an Orbit | Lagrange Points

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If we want a space probe to be stationary relative to the Earth, then we need a Lagrange point! They’re five points of gravitational stability, but how do we know they’re there?
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LINKS TO COMMENTS
Lagrange Points:
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Featured Comment:
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[@Warlord_Megatron]

Thanks sir for such a simple explanation. It helped me in understanding the reason behind Deploying James Webb space telescope at L2.

[@davidtitanium22]

same, i was also wondering why the L2 would be "stable" when all the forces are on one side, but of course they'll need the acceleration to stay in a circular motion

[@user-bx6vw7oh8s]

I understood the L2 for JWST but what i dont understand is it's orbit around the moon... Or what i have seen on other simulations is that it's orbit is far away from the moon's center of gravity... So where is it free falling to for maintaining it's orbit around the moon... Or does JWST has orbit around moon???

[@roguevector1268]

@@user-bx6vw7oh8s the JWST orbits around the Sun; it is in the L2 point for the Earth and Sun, not Earth and Moon. This is so that the Earth is always between the JWST and the Sun, keeping most of the IR 'noise' from the Sun from interfering with the JWST's sensors.

[@aarone9000]

The fact the the man figured this out back when it was first presented is amazing! France has done some impressive things!

[@bedo2445]

Finally getting a sponsor and being noticed. I am so happy for you. You deserve more recognition than what you get.

[@jamesgornall5731]

Entertaining show and talented, entertaining host mated with generally unpopular, difficult subject. If Nick could handle the cognitive dissonance required to talk about the Kardashians for 10 minutes every week he'd be a multi millionaire.

[@radishpineapple74]

A fun thing with Lagrange points is that they form the basis of extremely efficient orbital trajectories called "weak stability boundary transfer trajectories", part of a category of "low-energy transfers". Together, the system which connects these trajectories is called the "interplanetary transport network". If you have enough time and patience, you can use use these trajectories to wander around the Solar System for little to no fuel. Sometimes there is a free lunch after all!

[@ScienceAsylum]

...or at least a _really_ cheap lunch.

[@notsillyone]

Would this make those La Grange points around Jupiter a great place to go asteroid mining ?

[@imdawolfman2698]

It's actually not free, the orbits of the hosts pay for it.

[@alexandertownsend3291]

@@imdawolfman2698 practically free... for us

[@mihailmilev9909]

@@imdawolfman2698 how

[@stevenhoman2253]

You do this so well and explain things like Richard Feynman.

[@jerry3790]

*Partners with dollar shave club *Hasn’t shaved

[@garavonhoiwkenzoiber]

*his beard

[@deluxeassortment]

My face looks like that by the time I finish drinking my coffee

[@no_more_free_nicks]

He he he, good one!

[@ScienceAsylum]

@@garavonhoiwkenzoiber 😂😂😂😂

[@SquirrelASMR]

@@garavonhoiwkenzoiber LMAO 😂🙏

[@andrewbosak8941]

I thought I fully understood Lagrange points..Turns out I was wrong! Great explanation!

[@YTEdy]

Yup. Me too. The coordinate stuff threw my brain for a loop.

[@jackhuffman9313]

Threw your brain for a loop !, funny but does that mean your brain has Lagrange points too ?

[@Lucky-df8uz]

"I don't know about you but I shower and shave everyday" - Science Asylum laying down those burns today lol

[@openyoureyesandseethefutur4889]

i dont know about you but i dont shower and shave, i only shower when its convenient

[@arborinfelix]

In the last millennium, there was a La Grange point somewhere around the 1970's. It was on the Top of the ZZ coordinates.

[@brendonwyer8863]

Ha! Or should I say "Aha ha ha how!"

[@hans-olofsvensson1195]

Heaven, Hell or Newton

[@kirkbolas4985]

This was verified by the right reverend Billy F. Gibbons when he described the point like this: Rumour spreadin' 'round In that Texas town About that shack outside La Grange And you know what I'm talkin' about Reverend Gibbons assumed this was common knowledge at the time.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

At that point, a guitar will spin around freely at constant speed.

[@adreanmarantz2103]

Thanx, this was the comment I was looking for.

[@gaemlinsidoharthi]

For some reason, KZbin think that I need to know about Lagrange points. I’ll trust that your video will be the best explanation of all of them.

[@ScienceAsylum]

The James Webb Space Telescope is a really popular topic right now.

[@interstitialist4227]

Great video, but I wish you had explained how the Coriolis effect works at L4 and L5. I understand the effect as it applies to weather, but the extension to objects orbiting in space was not obvious.

[@ffggddss]

"Rotating frames can be weird like that." Boy, can they! Thanks for the memories of this aspect of classical mechanics! Fred

[@brucekemp2578]

This video does a great job of explaining the concept of Lagrange Points. The explanation is about as clear as could be. Maybe there should be some mention that the James Webb Space Telescope is heading for L2.

[@chrisrus1965]

Wait: Are there lots of rocks at L2? Is Jim in danger there? We know Jim can see far. Can it also see near enough to step out if the way of L2 rocks?

[@naMelaK]

@@chrisrus1965 If there are rocks, they are more likely to be at the "stable" points ; 4 & 5. Rocks usually don't have means of propulsion for coerce corrections ;).

[@vorpal22]

I have an interview working with the JWST tomorrow and this was very helpful to understand the different Lagrange points and why L2 is used.

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad I could help. Good luck with the interview!

[@jamesdriscoll9405]

I just saw your Lagrange mechanics video, and thought "cool now how about the L points for a follow up", and wow here it is.

[@brandonklein1]

I'm always impressed with your clarity of explanation! I look forward to more wonderful content during study breaks:)

[@robertbrander2074]

I couldn't have made Lagrange Points more Confusing and Complicated myself ... Well Done ! ..... Now I can search for a clearer more simpler explanation ... Tanks a Lot !

[@jimimaze]

I have watched 7 videos on Lagrange points today and this one made the most sense. Thanks!

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad it helped! 🤓

[@luckybarrel7829]

I'm here 2 years after this was released cause it's SO relevant right now, lol! Thanks for the explainer!

[@ajhproductions2347]

Bro it’s awesome to see your channel expanding. You put out high quality content, and I always learn more than I can handle for a day with just one video! Love your stuff man, keep it up!!!

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thanks!

[@Enrique_Osorio]

As always, an excellent, intuitive, entertaining, and most importantly educational video. Thank you so much for making these. Your videos make my day.

[@xyz.ijk.]

That was really well done and very clear. You make this stuff so much fun. (By the way ... what's the, uh, Lagrange situation around Milton's home? How many suns, moons, etc.? And what do they call those points where he's from?)

[@iliyanz_]

Your explanations and visuals are soo good

[@alstud1]

Recommending this channel everywhere after discovering it via a compliment to PBS Spacetime, and wish I'd found this interesting repository.

[@harkirat08]

You have improved so much in terms of script and graphics. The topic chosen was interesting as well. Keep it up man!

[@MagnusSkiptonLLC]

I'd make a funny comment about L4 and L5 but I keep getting stuck...

[@KimKim565]

Nailed it

[@costrio]

How about a new conspiracy theory where the government might be hiding or denying the existence of an L6 point? ;_)

[@jomellesamuel7053]

Lol

[@kojak8403]

You're getting stuck in Godel's incompleteness theorem

[@PR-fk5yb]

I am here a couple days after James Webb launched! Perfect timing! 😀

[@costrio]

Thanks for this explanation. L points hardly ever get mentioned and I wondered about their usages.

[@rock3tcatU233]

Finally a clear explanation on Lagrange points, you sir deserve all the cookies. Could you do more episodes on astrodynamics/orbital mechanics?

[@ScienceAsylum]

I like to do them every once in a while. There will be more.

[@vatsdimri3675]

Now I understand where the James Webb is going to be placed. So it's semi stable that would mean course correction from time to time. Great video.

[@ScienceAsylum]

Yep! It has little jets on it so that it can periodically correct itself.

[@cleitonoliveira932]

Well it's not a surprise anymore that we'll always be amazed by the teaching skills of this man.

[@humbladybug70]

Thanks for helping me understand Lagrange points. I had a very small idea of them. Now I know more.

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad I could help! 🤓

[@knowmankind]

I always understand what you are telling us. Great job. Thanks

[@jenf2580]

This video is one of my favorite now. I loved the concept( which I never heard). Great video Nick. Keep it up!👍

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad you liked it.

[@paulmendoza9736]

its okay to stay a little crazy! I think this channel is so fun!

[@archangelgabriel5316]

Im glad your channel popped up in my feed. Kudos, crazy.

[@technicallittlemaster8793]

Thanks for this video on this topic I have never heard about this so it's good to learn such amazing topics

[@AlleyKatt]

Another nicely explained video and love that you have a cool sponsor.

[@arbodox]

Great video! Could you do a video on orbital resonances next? Also, can you explain more about trojan asteroids, especially those in the Lagrange points (L4 and L5) of Jupiter? I personally find these quite fascinating, and the fact that a spacecraft ( _Lucy_ ) will be launched in 2021 to explore Jupiter's trojans really fuels. By the way, keep it up with your content!

[@ZubairKhan-vs8fe]

Always learning something interesting from you. Thank you

[@rayzorrayzor9000]

as always Nick a perfectly simple to follow explanation, i very nearly gave this vid a miss (yes im a little crazy), but you once again taught me something that I Thought i already knew !

[@valerioboldreghini4239]

Amazing, accurate explanation topped up with clever irony 😊😊 Best KZbin channel!!

[@ThePEELdeal]

This helped me so much with understanding the jame Webb telescopes orbit thank you so much

[@ScienceAsylum]

You're welcome!

[@A.R.77]

Very top notched info. Thank you!

[@bigsby3398]

Hi Nick, thanks for all your videos. They're awesome 😁 Thinking about the Lagrange points, do they play a role in the formation of planetary systems? Science rocks 🤘

[@ScienceAsylum]

Lagrange points don't exist without the planetary bodies already being there.

[@TheLkoler]

Another superb explanation for the layman. Thanks. And great graphics.

[@KarenSmith-ku4cb]

I have been searching for why L4 and L5 exist for so long! Thank you for at least offering SOME kind of explanation. "We're not really sure why they even exist" will do for now! At least it's an answer. Thanks!

[@ScienceAsylum]

The weirdest part is that L4 and L5 are the _most stable_ of the five points 🤯.

[@KarenSmith-ku4cb]

@@ScienceAsylum And Scott Manley just did an interesting piece on it where his computer sim shows the asteroids caught in Jupiter's L4 and L5. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYGrp3egabl3nK8 9:31 It could just be a motion plugged into the computer software, but it looks like they are all rotating around the axis of the motion of the planet. Kind of like right hand rule.

[@nocturno7660]

The mountain analogy really helped

[@ScienceAsylum]

That's great! Thanks for letting me know.

[@aniksamiurrahman6365]

Ah! After the JWST Christmas gift, KZbin recommended me this video again!

[@bxyhxyh]

For the first time I couldn't understand your explanation while eating food. I think I need to watch it with more concentration after I go to my home.

[@PaulDonnaErik]

Thanks! Very interesting, and helps explain what I'd heard about Jupiter sweeping up the solar system's debris

[@adamroach4538]

I *semi*-understand your videos now since I've been taking physics for almost 4 months now.

[@sephjy1370]

This video just got recommended to me in perfect time!

[@Plusle843]

I understand WHAT Lagrange points are, can we have a video on how they work in more detail? I'm most interested in L4-L5 points. How do they center back?

[@michaeledwardharris]

Extremely cool. Pretty crazy that such things exist.

[@joeycook6526]

I'm loving The Button! You deserved it a long time ago, and more than most. Congratulations!

[@p.kalyanachakravarty7530]

A nice and enjoyable explanation of Lagrange points....

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad you liked it 🤓

[@ostanin_vadym]

Thank you for content. Langrange points are cool

[@rogeranderson5546]

Thank you for this, great Stuff. And it had me smiling at times.

[@haroldschaevitz9146]

Great video please do more on the solar system

[@GiubileiFernando]

This was useful for understanding Gundam and it's space colonies.

[@geodesicdeath2997]

Liked before watching. Also, I'm glad to see that you're getting sponsors!

[@mybluemars]

Lagrange points are very interesting. I picture them as little eddy currents like in a river where leaves and debris get trapped. I really don''t understand the math behind them at all.

[@mrhuy88]

This is amazingly good description of what LaGrange points are. Very understandable. The next phase of NASA could be placing some people in orbit around the LaGrangian points. This was discussed in a press conference as a possibility. This would be the first example of a manned spaceship outside of "earth low orbit." How to get people excited about it? Videos like this! Thank you...

[@gasting]

Best explanation I found so far!

[@thisfeatureisdumbandredundant]

And I thought Newtonian mechanics were at least comprehensible, unlike relativity and quantum mechanics. *I was mistaken*

[@Markle2k]

L1 and L2 (and L3, but it's a little harder to wrap your brain around) can be understood another way. Centering on the larger object, all objects will orbit at the same speed and period if they want to maintain that orbit. Orbit too slow and they will fall in and reach a smaller, faster stable orbit. Conversely, if they are orbiting too fast, they will move farther away and slow down. Forgetting about their speed around the orbit and paying attention only to the period of the orbit, an object (a satellite) that wants to track the pace of an object of intermediate mass (Earth) around a more massive object (Sun) has two choices, become part of that mass (collide and become part of the Earth), or position itself so that it uses the gravity of the intermediate object (Earth) to maintain an orbit around the Sun that it would otherwise not be able to stay in. At L1, between the two larger objects, the natural orbit would have to have a faster period to be stable. But if the object is placed just right, the gravity of the intermediate object (Earth) will tug on the satellite just enough to "hold it up" and keep it from falling in to a smaller orbit while maintaining the same period as the intermediate object (Earth) in its larger orbit. At L2, on an orbit outside the orbit of the intermediate object (Earth), the orbital period would be slower than the intermediate object (Earth) around the larger object (Sun). If placed just at the right distance, the gravity from the intermediate object (Earth) tugs down on the satellite and keeps it from floating up into a larger orbit. L3 is super impractical because Venus exists and Venus's gravity is a stronger influence than Earth's at the times in its orbit when it is near the side of the Sun opposite Earth.

[@RoulDukeGonzo]

@@Markle2k uh

[@YTEdy]

N-body problems or 3-body problems are tricky and some remain unsolved. Lagrange points are basically a specific case for the 3-body problem. Newton himself had trouble with them and gave up on some of the calculations. Lagrange followed Newton and he worked it out a bit better, but the full 3-body problem remains unsolved. It can only be approximated. www.askamathematician.com/2011/10/q-what-is-the-three-body-problem/

[@YTEdy]

@pyropulse You're right. I didn't know that unsolvability had been proved, but I felt that I'd understated how unsolvable it was after I wrote that. I thought about going back and editing. Thanks for the clarification.

[@eriknystrom5839]

Markle2k Yes, thanks, as I have read, at least L1 and L2 are related to the combined gravity of the sun and the earth, not the earth and the moon. The video doesn’t mention the sun. Is there something wrong in this explanation in this video? DSCOVR (the Deep Space Climate satellite) is placed in Lagrangian point L1, and the James Webb space telescope will be placed in L2. Note, my thumbnail is a portrait of Mr Lagrange.

[@j777]

Finally someone kind of answered my question, I was wondering about Lagrange points being full of junk

[@ScienceAsylum]

Yep! That's especially true for L4 and L5 because they're the most stable of the 5 points. This is a big reason we don't use them.

[@wrjazziel]

I use Lagrange multipliers (and Hamiltonian) in economics, but this confused me a little bit more :D.... awesome videos btw, great personality too!

[@al1383]

A video about something I have never heard of, awesome!

[@tom_something]

I've been watching this channel too much. I used to imagine classical analogies to help understand quantum phenomena. But now I'm like, "So if we treat space junk like random particles, would the Lagrange points be probability peaks?"

[@ronnyvbk]

Nice one, just remember....analogies only go that far.....

[@tom_something]

@@ronnyvbk true. Whoops, I shouldn't say "true" in a science video. Observations support your model, is what I meant to say.

[@jajajajanej]

’Bout time You got a sponsor! I bet they really came to shave the day? Your videos are really great, and today I learned something completely new. Never even heard of these points before.

[@xgozulx]

5:42 nobody expects the coriollis effect!!!

[@TwoWholeWorms]

This is such an amazing explanation of what's going on and how it all works.

[@nddragoon]

Finally a video that explains lagrange points in an understandable way beyond "they just exist"

[@KimKim565]

Sounds like you're watching terrible channels.. x)

[@Hansca]

Cool and the best explanation I've seen!

[@tdhanasekaran3536]

Lagrange points are cool and very important. I learned about their significance after reading an article about the proposed James Webb Space Telescope will be placed at L2 (L1 is not preferred due to the Sun's intense glare).

[@petercarlson811]

Awesome explanation!

[@richarddeese1991]

Thanks for a very good video! :) Although it seems to confuse many people, it's important to hammer home the fact that acceleration does NOT mean "Go FASTER grandma!!" To scientists (& to us regular people who are just scientifically-minded!!), 'acceleration' means 'a change in speed.' Thank you for pointing that out - most people don't realize it. So, folks... acceleration (that 'change in speed') can be positive ("Go FASTER grandma!!"), negative ("Slow DOWN, grandma!!") or zero ("Nice cruise-control, grandma!!") If you're ever in a situation where you're riding in a car & a scientist is driving - & you see something they need to avoid by going faster, NEVER say, "Hurry - ACCELERATE!!!" That scientist will say, "positively or negatively." Just say, "Go FASTER!!!" ;) tavi.

[@physicsphilosophy2492]

Cool explanation from a great mind👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@robertbilling6266]

Great video, very clear explanation. What effect does a high eccentricity have on the stability of the points?

[@ScienceAsylum]

The more eccentric the orbit, the less stable the points are. At sufficiently high eccentricity, the Lagrange points are still _technically_ there, but they become less useful.

[@robertbilling6266]

@@ScienceAsylum Thanks, that's interesting.

[@johnfarris6152]

Knowledge is better than love and it's only getting better.

[@vinayakpendse7233]

Finally, you got sponsorship. Love you're videos.

[@jeanpaulattard1063]

Merci pour ces explications éclairantes !

[@ScienceAsylum]

You're very welcome!

[@Rafaga777]

Energetic and concise as always. Instant like...

[@jacekmatusiak6184]

Good vid, quite instructive

[@TheyCallMeNewb]

The basketball/valley analogy works a treat! SixtySymbols didn't have quite so an intuitive an elucidation. Must be something in the name.

[@rowanmoormann9532]

Kool Man! Thanks for Sharing this,

[@ScienceAsylum]

You're welcome 🤓

[@jlpsinde]

You explain in an incredible fantastic way everything. You have a gift! I'll raise my Patreon support! Thanks.

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thank you for your support!

[@playhard719]

Great video, can you do a video on Tired light hypothesis.

[@Peddayana]

This is the best explanation I was able to find on KZbin.In fact, I forgot the fact that net force between Earth and Sun should be positive to provide centripetal force, till you wrote the Newton’s second law equation. But why does Aditya L1 space craft need a circular orbit around L1? Why can it not be in a simple circular orbit around Sun , like earth does?

[@pawned79]

You say L3 could never send us data because it is blocked by the Sun, but wouldn’t it be more proper to say it could never send us data DIRECTLY? If you had a communication relay in L4/L5 or periodically data dumped to a relay around another planet like Venus or Mars, then you could eventually get the L3 data beamed to Earth. So, if we absolutely had to monitor the backside of the Sun, we could do so with a bent-pipe communication architecture.

[@wally7856]

L3 is where the alien base stays hidden from us so you would have to get permission from them to hang out there.

[@X22GJP]

Yeah we can't actually get to L4 or L5 to position relay stations due to the negative effects of transitive micro fluctuations caused by anti-gravity boosters on machines occupying those regions. Machines that we didn't put there.

[@mr.rabbit5642]

How come I have never heard about those before?.. Thank you!

[@johnroberts7529]

Thanks for a great explanation. If I could make a request: would you make a video covering the measurement of distances to stars and galaxies?

[@ScienceAsylum]

Hopefully, I will eventually.

[@MidnighterClub]

This really was cool, esp. the expanded explanation of why Lagrange points work. Next cool gravitational thing: Interplanetary Superhighway.

[@kripashankarshukla4073]

I am your biggest fan sir your videos are outstanding amazing wonderful thanks a lot

[@Hydrogenblonde]

La grange points are very cool!!

[@tsgillespiejr]

I first heard about Lagrange points from Gundam Wing. Thanks for the explanation.

[@james-hs8kd]

Only took 2 minutes before i was totally lost and had to start the vid again....smashed my personal best

[@flpsyx]

Well explained video

[@theabristlebroom4378]

Thank you! You are a superb explainer! (Or is it a team effort? I'm new here.) Subbed!

[@ScienceAsylum]

No team back then. One-person show. I've only very recently started to hire help, but not consistently.