Returning to the gravity well, we have to ask how well the rubber sheet analogy illustrates the real situation. The gravity well of the rubber sheet analogy is really only a 2D illustration partially translated into 3D. The full 3D image would be practically impossible to represent on a sheet of paper. The mass becomes a sphere subtending a quasi-infinite number of gravity wells, impinging upon it from every direction. It might be tempting to visualise this as being like a sphere made up of closely packed gravity wells, like one of those paper Christmas decorations composed of closely packed hexagonal cones. Such would not be the case. In fact, every gravity well would have to overlap a boundless number of other gravity wells, such that if one imagines a sphere of any size centred on the mass, every gravity well would have to intersect the surface of that sphere so that its “mouth” formed a great circle. Any other configuration would not permit a stable orbit to be established by the object, irrespective of its direction of approach.
