Asymptotic relative speed of a disrupted binary
ID: asymptotic-relative-speed-of-a-disrupted-binary
A disrupted binary star with positive post-impulse specific orbital energy has relative speed at infinite separation, because the Newtonian gravitational potential energy tends to zero. With the notation of the kick-direction binary survival criterion, . This is not a systemic recoil velocity. A marginal parabolic Kepler orbit has at infinity.
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