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  • As several people have pointed out, a very strong ring around a spherically symmetric

  • object is in an unstable gravitational equilibrium, which means that if it stays perfectly put,

  • it’s fine, but if it gets nudged even just slightly off its perfectly centered position,

  • it will then get pulled farther and farther from that position, since the part now closer

  • to the earth gets pulled more strongly toward the earth than the part now farther from earth.

  • So, it’s just like a perfectly balanced pencil.

As several people have pointed out, a very strong ring around a spherically symmetric

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