Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The smallest distance at which a natural satellite can orbit a celestial body without being torn apart by the larger body's gravitational force. The distance depends on the densities of the two bodies and the orbit of the satellite.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun astronomy the
closest distance which asatellite can approach its parent body without being pulled apart bytidal forces
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[After Edouard Albert Roche, (1820–1883), French mathematician.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Édouard Roche French astronomer
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