Roche limit result cannot be represented in an exact algebraic formula. Roche himself derived the following approximate solution for the Roche limit: However, a better approximation that takes into account the primary's oblateness and the satellite's mass is: where formula_59 is the oblateness of the primary. The numerical factor is calculated with the aid of a computer. The fluid solution is appropriate for bodies that are only loosely held together, such as a comet. For instance, comet Shoemaker–Levy 9's decaying orbit around Jupiter passed within its Roche limit in July 1992, causing it to fragment into a number of smaller pieces. On
Erich Meyer Erich Meyer Erich Meyer (born August 6, 1951) is an Austrian engineer, amateur astronomer and discoverer of asteroids. Between 1996 and 1999, using the private observatory Meyer/Obermair in Davidschlag (municipality Kirchschlag bei Linz, Austria), he discovered a total of 21 asteroids. Seven of these asteroids were discovered together with his colleague Erwin Obermair and one together with Herbert Raab. Furthermore, he was involved in six other discoveries of asteroids between 1996 and 2005, which were assigned as site discoveries to the observatory Davidschlag by the International Astronomical Union. Meyer's most important observations include precisie astrometry of the comet Shoemaker–Levy 9,