Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion?

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From	Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net>
Newsgroups	sci.electronics.design, sci.astro, sci.physics
Subject	Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion?
Date	Mon, 2 Feb 2026 14:23:33 -0500
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Cross-posted to 3 groups.

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On 2026-02-02 12:49, John Hasler wrote:
> Jan Panteltje wrote:
>> So that makes me wonder if a spacecraft with just a permanent magnet
>> that you can moveto give you a force in the direction you want to
>> go...
> 
> You can't control the direction of the force.  In any case the magnitude
> of the force would probably down there with the light pressure from
> stars lightyears away.
> 

And a dipole couples to the field gradient, not the field, so the effect 
would be vanishing**2ly small.  (Or is that vanishing**3fly?)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

-- 
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

http://electrooptical.net
http://hobbs-eo.com

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Thread

Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Jan Panteltje <alien@comet.invalid> - 2026-02-01 11:57 +0000
  Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2026-02-01 12:57 +0000
    Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Jan Panteltje <alien@comet.invalid> - 2026-02-01 16:44 +0000
      Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2026-02-01 16:55 +0000
        Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Ian <gay@sfu.ca> - 2026-02-01 16:19 -0800
          Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2026-02-02 05:35 +0100
          Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2026-02-02 05:40 +0100
  Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Bill Sloman <bill.sloman@ieee.org> - 2026-02-02 00:41 +1100
    Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? "Edward Rawde" <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2026-02-01 09:58 -0500
    Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Jeremiah Jones <jj@j.j> - 2026-02-02 08:50 -0800
      Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> - 2026-02-02 16:55 +0000
      Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> - 2026-02-02 09:28 -0800
      Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2026-02-02 11:49 -0600
        Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> - 2026-02-02 14:23 -0500
          Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> - 2026-02-02 12:39 -0800
            Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> - 2026-02-02 15:53 -0500
      Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? John Hasler <john@sugarbit.com> - 2026-02-02 11:43 -0600
      Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? ehsjr <ehsjr@verizon.net> - 2026-02-02 16:49 -0500
        Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Jeremiah Jones <jj@j.j> - 2026-02-02 20:42 -0800
          Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2026-02-04 20:11 +0100
            Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Jeremiah Jones <jj@j.j> - 2026-02-05 16:24 -0800
              Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2026-02-06 02:09 +0100
                Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Jeremiah Jones <jj@j.j> - 2026-02-06 00:24 -0800
                Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Bill Sloman <bill.sloman@ieee.org> - 2026-02-06 20:18 +1100
              Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Bill Sloman <bill.sloman@ieee.org> - 2026-02-06 18:07 +1100
                Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid (Liz Tuddenham) - 2026-02-06 09:45 +0000
                Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2026-02-07 01:54 +0100
                Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Jeremiah Jones <jj@j.j> - 2026-02-07 19:48 -0800
                Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? athel.cb@gmail.com <user12588@newsgrouper.org.invalid> - 2026-02-08 11:42 +0000
          Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? john larkin <jl@glen--canyon.com> - 2026-02-05 16:48 -0800
        Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2026-02-04 16:36 +0100
      Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Bill Sloman <bill.sloman@ieee.org> - 2026-02-03 15:54 +1100
        Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Jeremiah Jones <jj@j.j> - 2026-02-03 20:35 -0800
          Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Bill Sloman <bill.sloman@ieee.org> - 2026-02-04 16:59 +1100
          Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2026-02-04 16:58 +0100
      Re: Could magnets be used for interstellar propulsion? Thomas 'PointedEars' Lahn <PointedEars@web.de> - 2026-02-04 16:23 +0100

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