Editing Stellar dynamics (section)

{{Short description|Branch of astrophysics}}
'''Stellar dynamics''' is the branch of [[astrophysics]] which describes in a statistical way the collective motions of [[star]]s subject to their mutual [[gravity]]. The essential difference from [[celestial mechanics]] is that the number of body <math> N \gg 10. </math>

[[File:Animation of Juno trajectory.gif|thumb|Slingshot of a test body in a two-body potential]]

[[File:Hamiltonian flow classical.gif|thumb|N-particles in quasi-periodic motion in the phase space (x, mv) of an essentially static potential]]

Typical galaxies have upwards of millions of macroscopic gravitating bodies and countless number of neutrinos and perhaps other dark microscopic bodies. Also each star contributes more or less equally to the total gravitational field, whereas in celestial mechanics the pull of a massive body dominates any satellite orbits.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics |last=Murdin |first=Paul |publisher=Nature Publishing Group| year=2001 | isbn=978-0750304405 | pages=1| chapter=Stellar Dynamics}}</ref>