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20th February 2004, 08:45 AM
|  | WinAce > cdesign proponentsists
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Reps: 16,712 (power: 43) | | Originally Posted by Meatros I must confess to curiousity though-seeing as I'm definitely not an expert on astronomy;
Could a planet be flat (or relatively)? Does gravity necessarily have to shape a planet somewhat spherically?
issues of planet formation aside, basically planets have to be spherical (ignoring the slight bulge because of spin), yes. Once they get over a certain mass then they just fall into that shape in order to maintain gravitational stability. It would be a very strange planet indeed that did not follow this rule.
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20th February 2004, 09:01 AM
|  | The Meat is in the Middle!
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Reps: 41 (power: 0) | | Originally Posted by Jet Black issues of planet formation aside, basically planets have to be spherical (ignoring the slight bulge because of spin), yes. Once they get over a certain mass then they just fall into that shape in order to maintain gravitational stability. It would be a very strange planet indeed that did not follow this rule.
Just for S&Gs, can you think of a situation that would allow for the possibility of a flat planet? Or does it all have to do with mass, period?
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If we are going to teach 'creation science' as an alternative to evolution, then we should also teach the stork theory as an alternative to biological reproduction. ~Judith Hayes, In God We Trust: But Which One?
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20th February 2004, 09:05 AM
| | WinAce > cdesign proponentsists
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Reps: 16,712 (power: 43) | | | well assuming some kind of crystalline material, you could have a flat planet, since the molecular structuer could support itself againts the gravity, but everything would still be attracted to it's gravitational centre. It would be a weird beast to walk around, since say you stopped at the lowest poin (clises to the gravitational centre) and walked towards the rim, the gravity would both increase and pull you towards the centre again and it would feel like you were walking uphill.
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20th February 2004, 12:20 PM
|  | Not so Newbie
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Reps: 9,696,570 (power: 9,706) | | Originally Posted by Jet Black well assuming some kind of crystalline material, you could have a flat planet, since the molecular structuer could support itself againts the gravity, but everything would still be attracted to it's gravitational centre. It would be a weird beast to walk around, since say you stopped at the lowest poin (clises to the gravitational centre) and walked towards the rim, the gravity would both increase and pull you towards the centre again and it would feel like you were walking uphill.
Walking on a large, unspherical asteroid would be even harder. You would try to take a step forward and your body (or parts thereof) could go in an entirely different direction. |
20th February 2004, 12:27 PM
|  | Badger Mushroom Snake
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Planets in a universe with different physical laws could be flat. |
20th February 2004, 01:58 PM
| | WinAce > cdesign proponentsists
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Reps: 16,712 (power: 43) | | Originally Posted by Sheseala
LOL. reminds me of a star trek episode where Q was turned into a human and dumped on the enterprise. when asked how he would get out of a certain situation he just said "well if I were still Q, I would just change the gravitational constant and slingshot round that planet over there"
Q was ace.
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20th February 2004, 03:01 PM
| | Badger Mushroom Snake
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Reps: 667 (power: 0) | | | Q is still one of my favorite characters. | | |
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