Non-gravitational acceleration

A push on a body in orbit that gravity alone does not account for.

A small acceleration, measured by tracking a body's path, that remains after the pull of the Sun and planets is subtracted. Comets show it because sunlight boils gas off them and the gas pushes back. ʻOumuamua showed it without a visible tail, which is the heart of its mystery; the Earth flyby anomaly is a related unexplained push on spacecraft.

Where it comes up

1I/'Oumuamua

Small near-Earth asteroids with no visible activity show non-gravitational accelerations too large for the Yarkovsky effect; more than a dozen dark comets are now known.

Small near-Earth asteroids with no visible activity show non-gravitational accelerations too large for the…

Cite it

Mysteries Department. (2026). Non-gravitational acceleration [Concept CPT0DECW031ZQ1N]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/CPT0DECW031ZQ1N

@misc{mysteriesdept_cpt0decw031zq1n,
  title     = {Non-gravitational acceleration},
  author    = {{Mysteries Department}},
  year      = {2026},
  note      = {Concept, catalog key CPT0DECW031ZQ1N},
  url       = {https://mysteriesdept.com/r/CPT0DECW031ZQ1N}
}