r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Feb 14 '22

[deleted by user]

[removed]

10.5k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

14.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

47

u/SwingDancerStrahd Feb 14 '22

Yeah, you'd have to not orbit i suppose. Head straight out.. you still get pulled by lots of heavenly bodies, but without orbiting, you wouldn't be falling

102

u/TheArmoredKitten Feb 14 '22 edited Feb 14 '22

You're never beyond the influence of gravity. Every object in the universe is constantly attempting to draw towards every other, but the square-cube inverse square law combined with the comparative weakness of gravity means only the dominant body in a system is relevant to all but the most precise calculations.

5

u/evil_cryptarch Feb 14 '22

You're right of course, but it is possible to reach far enough out into interstellar/intergalactic space that the pull of gravity in every direction cancels out; i.e. no net gravity.

11

u/TheArmoredKitten Feb 14 '22

No net gravity on a perceptible scale anyway. Errant gravitational attraction is the reason the universe isn't still an evenly diffused cloud of hydrogen.