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They say the star's gravity fixes one side of the planet toward the star, and that ice builds up on the other side. I suppose if the atmosphere had enough mass,
by euroclydon 10y ago
They say the star's gravity fixes one side of the planet toward the star, and that ice builds up on the other side. I suppose if the atmosphere had enough mass, and the balance was precarious enough, the far side could accumulate enough ice to flip toward the star and become the near side.
So there might be a season change every so often
- Spellman 10y agoWinter is Coming!
- FreeFull 10y agoI feel like adding mass on one side would only made the tidal locking stronger. Either way, you'd need some sort of massive energy input to make the planet spin up again.
- vanattab 10y agoIt would be interesting to study given a specific level of ice build up how big of an asteroid would have to hit it at the perfect angle to make it flip?
- nbevans 10y agoThat's an awesome plausible theory. Must be happening somewhere in the universe for sure!
- andrewflnr 10y agoYou mean a cataclysmic planetary flood every so often. All that ice suddenly exposed to continual bright sunlight is going to melt fast.