  The magnetic field of a host star can impact the orbit of a stellar partner,
planet, or asteroid if the orbiting body is itself magnetic or electrically
conducting. Here, we focus on the instantaneous magnetic forces on an orbiting
body in the limit where the dipole approximation describes its magnetic
properties as well as those of its stellar host. A permanent magnet in orbit
about a star will be inexorably drawn toward the stellar host if the magnetic
force is comparable to gravity due to the steep radial dependence of the
dipole-dipole interaction. While magnetic fields in observed systems are much
too weak to drive a merger event, we confirm that they may be high enough in
some close compact binaries to cause measurable orbital precession. When the
orbiting body is a conductor, the stellar field induces a time-varying magnetic
dipole moment that leads to the possibility of eccentricity pumping and
resonance trapping. The challenge is that the orbiter must be close to the
stellar host, so that magnetic interactions must compete with tidal forces and
the effects of intense stellar radiation.
