questionmark Posted August 24, 2013 #1 Share Posted August 24, 2013 When Joe lived back on Earth, it felt like the years were flying by. Then he went to work in the mines on the iron planet, and discovered how wrong he'd been. One side of the small world enjoyed perpetual night, and in his heat-resistant spacesuit it was just cool enough to stand and drill into the ground. There was neither sunrise nor sunset to mark the passage of time, yet he knew the iron planet whirled around its star so fast that every time he lay down for his 8 Earth-hours of shut-eye, he woke up two years later. If Joe the space miner existed, that would be his life on KOI 1843.03, a potential planet found by NASA's Kepler space telescope. This odd world appears to have the shortest known year, completing an orbit around its star in just 4 hours, 15 minutes. Because it is so close to the star, one side of the planet most likely always faces the star and feels more of its gravitational pull, creating tidal forces that squish and stretch the tiny body. And to withstand the star's gravitational wrath, the planet must be made almost entirely of iron. Read more 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simbi Laveau Posted August 24, 2013 #2 Share Posted August 24, 2013 (edited) Oh no.... No way would I want to age that fast, unless I got presents on every single birthday Edited August 24, 2013 by Simbi Laveau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Commander Travis Posted August 24, 2013 #3 Share Posted August 24, 2013 How much gravity would it have, if as it appears it doesn't rotate at all? Would anything on it (such as Joe the hypothetical Miner) just be drawn off it into the sun? How much do they pay Joe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfin Posted August 24, 2013 #4 Share Posted August 24, 2013 How much gravity would it have, if as it appears it doesn't rotate at all? Would anything on it (such as Joe the hypothetical Miner) just be drawn off it into the sun? How much do they pay Joe? Gravity is not caused by rotation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euphorbia Posted August 24, 2013 #5 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Gravity is not caused by rotation. Precisely! Gravity is caused by mass.......and an iron planet would have lots of mass.......depending on size/diameter of course..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bendy Demon Posted August 24, 2013 #6 Share Posted August 24, 2013 I was under the impression (erroneously it seems) that all planets rotated on their axis. The article doesn't seem to address this, either that or I missed something. So I want to know is why wouldn't it rotate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfin Posted August 24, 2013 #7 Share Posted August 24, 2013 (edited) I was under the impression (erroneously it seems) that all planets rotated on their axis. The article doesn't seem to address this, either that or I missed something. So I want to know is why wouldn't it rotate? If one side faces the star all the time then it does rotate, at the same rate as its orbit. Just like the moon does to the earth (more or less). I believe it's called tidal locking, and all orbiting bodies are being gradually forced into this state, very slowly. Edited August 24, 2013 by Elfin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bendy Demon Posted August 24, 2013 #8 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Ah right, right. Sounds logical. Sorry for sounding so stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatureBoff Posted August 24, 2013 #9 Share Posted August 24, 2013 It suggests there's room for exotic matter as well imv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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