Gravity Well

A gravity well is the funnel-shaped model used to depict the gravitation field created by celestial bodies. On the surface of the earth, we live at the bottom of the planet’s gravity well, meaning that we have been affected by earth’s gravity to the fullest extent. Incredible amounts of energy are required to climb out of the bottom of the well and so be freed from the gravitational tethers of our planet. Energy is also required to maintain a constant orbit around a body exhibiting a gravity well. Without any intervention, an object will inevitably drift deeper into the funnel, the forces growing ever stronger, until spiraling violently, the object comes crashing into the pit of the well.