Did Venus Have A Moon? |
Did Venus Have A Moon? |
Oct 11 2006, 07:06 PM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Oct 11 2006, 08:09 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 509 Joined: 2-July 05 From: Calgary, Alberta Member No.: 426 |
Cute, but it's just speculation. Nobody can prove or disprove that any such moons ever existed.
The presenter is listed as being an undergraduate... I'm guessing this is his fourth year thesis. Presumably it's being reported in the news because it "sounds exciting". As far as the model's concerned, I'd been under the impression that Venus' slow rotation rate can be explained away by despinning due to solar tides acting on its atmosphere, because the atmosphere is so massive. (This is a dim recollection from years ago -- correct me if my memory is inaccurate here.) If that's correct, it's an important point, because it would make a second impact unnecessary, which would really simplify the model. *Any* moon, whether primordial, captured, or giant-impact-derived, would have spiralled into Venus after the planet's rotation was tidally slowed. Guess the same goes for Mercury. |
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Oct 11 2006, 09:07 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
Keep in mind that the rate of Venus's rotation, at its equator, is just a fast walk by a person. It is incredibly close to zero -- though not quite there. It's more likely to signify an attractor AT zero (eg, solar tides) than cosmic billiards which would have no such attractor.
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