augugusto t1_j9z1we1 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 4:51 PM

How large are Lagrange points? I think this one is going to L2. Isn't Webb also there?

valcatosi t1_j9z2ta7 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 4:57 PM

The Lagrange points themselves are (theoretically) literally points. Zero spatial extent. The reason they're useful is that you can enter what's colloquially known as a "halo orbit" around them. Those orbits can be enormous - there's plenty of room for all the telescopes we could ever send.

t3hjs t1_j9z83n5 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 5:32 PM

So If I understand you right, the satellites dont sit stationary on the exact point.

Instead they orbit around the point, and thats possible because there is a circle (ellipse?) you can draw around the Earth-Sun L2 point that is equipotential, due to the radially symmetric pull of the Earth-Sun (if radius is defined as a perpendicular to an axis straight through the Earth and Sun)

valcatosi t1_j9z9qz1 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 5:43 PM

Yeah, that's essentially it. Here's an ESA presentation that goes into a little more detail, since as you've guessed it's slightly more complicated: https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Libration_point_orbits

[deleted] t1_j9ze3v2 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 6:11 PM

[removed]

rocketsocks t1_ja13kdl wrote on February 26, 2023 at 1:29 AM

All of the "orbits" or pseudo-orbits at the Lagrange points are within a very large volume. At the Sun-Earth L1 and L2 points the typical orbit is a halo orbit or a Lissajous orbit which loops around the Lagrange point at a distance of typically a few hundred thousand kilometers (on a similar scale to the Earth-Moon distance). In a practical sense the volume available for spacecraft to use the points is so enormous that we are unlikely to run into any crowding constraints any time soon.