by iamlucky13 » Wed May 02, 2007 5:29 pm
Right. It's very close to the star, so over time it should slow into tidal lock. However, it may not have had enough time to do so (unlikely) or may be disturbed by the other two large planets in the system. Also, it's quite possible that it may be in a resonant lock like Mercury, which due to the eccentricity of it's orbit has a 3:2 lock...3 days every 2 years. In this case it would have a sunrise every couple of weeks. One source said Gliese 581c has an eccentricty of nearly 0, another said a very pronounced 0.3. I'm not sure which to trust or neither.
By the way NoelC, that link is for Gliese 623, not 581. Here's 581:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliese_581.
Would earth be tidally locked without it's moon? I think it's far enough away to keep spinning for a while. Not to mention the moon is a more dominant slowing force than the sun.
Right. It's very close to the star, so over time it should slow into tidal lock. However, it may not have had enough time to do so (unlikely) or may be disturbed by the other two large planets in the system. Also, it's quite possible that it may be in a resonant lock like Mercury, which due to the eccentricity of it's orbit has a 3:2 lock...3 days every 2 years. In this case it would have a sunrise every couple of weeks. One source said Gliese 581c has an eccentricty of nearly 0, another said a very pronounced 0.3. I'm not sure which to trust or neither.
By the way NoelC, that link is for Gliese 623, not 581. Here's 581:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliese_581.
Would earth be tidally locked without it's moon? I think it's far enough away to keep spinning for a while. Not to mention the moon is a more dominant slowing force than the sun.