Doctor Who "The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit" ***Spoilers!
Martin Dunne wrote:
It's certainly very unusual, but I like the reasoning! The problem isn't
just one of origin, although that makes it really unlikely. It's tidal
force, bit of a misnomer as there's no such force, just the observation
off the back of this planet's oceans that gravity pulls slightly more on
the forward side of a facing object. When dealing with gravity of this
order this translates into a lot of disproportionate pull.
And not on the ocean (there wasn't any) but on the rock, such that the
planet would be distorted to the extent that a Mt Everest could be
pulled up on the side closest to the black hole every rotation. The
friction alone would guarantee that there would be little if any solid
crust and the surface of the planet would be akin to our mantle.
Also the orbital period of a planet that close would be measured in
hours rather than days, weeks or months.
Cheers
David
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