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
The Shoemaker and the Elves (film) The Shoemaker and the Elves (film) The Shoemaker and the Elves is a 1935 Color Rhapsodies short directed by Arthur Davis. It concerns a poor shoemaker who gives a little boy shelter from a storm. A homeless waif, staggering through a roaring snow storm, wanders into a small town and no one except a poor shoemaker will give the little boy shelter from the storm. That night, the elves come in with their equipment and material, and make a new supply of shoes for the old man. In the morning, seeing what has happened, the old man tells the boy