L4 and L5 Points

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(C)Copyright 2019, C. Burke. "AnthroNumerics" is a trademark of Christopher J. Burke and (x, why?).

When I was little, I thought some day I could be part of some L5 Society. And then I turned 40, and I sort of did.

ObMath: For those who are unaware about the L4 and L5 Lagrange points in space, these are two of five points in spaces where the gravitation forces of other bodies (for example, the Sun and the Earth) equal the centrifugal forces felt by the third, smaller object. An object (satellite, space station) in one of these positions would be "parked" in space. They're named about Joseph-Louis Lagrange who wrote about them. What sets L4 and L5 apart from L1, L2, and L3 is that the former two are stable.

To find the location's of Earth's L4 and L5 points, imagine a line segment between the Sun and the Earth. Now imagine that a giant equilateral triangle in space. The L4 point is where the third point of the triangle crosses ahead of the Earth in its orbit. The L5 point similarly would be a point on the orbit behind the Earth.

So there's a giant rhombus is space with points S, L4, E, L5.




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