Rotational Brownian motion (astronomy) that the rotation axis of the binary is oriented at angle θ at time "t". The evolution equation for "F" is formula_17 If <Δξ>, "a", ρ and σ are constant in time, this becomes formula_18 where μ = cos θ and τ is the time in units of the relaxation time "t", where formula_19 The solution to this equation states that the expectation value of μ decays with time as formula_20 Hence, "t" is the time constant for the binary's orientation to be randomized by torques from field stars. Rotational Brownian motion was first discussed in the context of binary
Brownian motion motion can be measured as "v" = Δ"x"/Δ"t", when Δ"t" « "τ", where "τ" is the momentum relaxation time. In 2010, the instantaneous velocity of a Brownian particle (a glass microsphere trapped in air with optical tweezers) was measured successfully. The velocity data verified the Maxwell–Boltzmann velocity distribution, and the equipartition theorem for a Brownian particle. In stellar dynamics, a massive body (star, black hole, etc.) can experience Brownian motion as it responds to gravitational forces from surrounding stars. The rms velocity "V" of the massive object, of mass "M", is related to the rms velocity formula_34 of the background