Are they conditions (or have there been conditions) when a mass which orbits a primary (similar to an asteroid belt) coalesces into a solid ring around that primary? I would like to assume that this mass has a radius similar to our distance form the sun and that the ring might posses enough gravity to hold an atmosphere. Under what conditions could this form?
2007-10-10 22:48:55 · 3 answers · asked by Gaspode the wonder dog 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Even if a solid ring were to form, held together in compression sort of like a circular "arch", it would be torn apart by shear and tensile forces due to the differing natural orbital velocities of the inner and outer parts of the ring. Rock has miserably low shear and tensile strength, especially when it's composed of pieces that are bound only gravitationally.
2007-10-11 03:36:24 · answer #1 · answered by kirchwey 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Also, even if such a ring could hold together, its orbit would be unstable. A ring in orbit around a sphere is about as stable as a ball bearing on top of a piece of uncooked spaghetti...you might get it to balance, but the slightest force will knock it off.
A big chunk of one of the later Ringworld novels was devoted to all the handwaves needed to explain how the thing could even exist on purpose, much less naturally.
2007-10-11 11:55:36 · answer #2 · answered by Dvandom 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No there are a whole lot of gravitational eddies at work as a planetary system forms. These would break up any ring and condense it into globular bodies.
2007-10-11 06:15:32 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋