Celestia Forums

I'm trying to do a computer graphics image of Roche lobes, but I'm not entirely sure of how to go about doing this.

My thought is to use an isosurface (surface of constant potential), but how to define the potential? For example this page gives:

?¤=-G*M_1/(r-r_1) - G*M_2/(r-r_2) - ??*?‰??*r??

The first and second terms are clearly from gravity, and the third is a centrifugal term.

However, does this result apply in 3-dimensions? I would expect the centrifugal term to depend on distance from the axis of rotation, not the origin of the coordinate system, i.e.

?¤=-G*M_1/(r-r_1) - G*M_2/(r-r_2) - ??*?‰??*?

That's correct. You need to use rho in the centrifugal term.

Thanks for the confirmation. Might even try some Celestia models at some point.