Planet found that defies the laws of physics

Interesting article from the British broadsheet newspaper the Independant:

It's the planet that really shouldn't exist – or at least not for long. It is 10 times the size of Jupiter, orbits its own star in under 24 hours and should soon be spiralling into the surface of its searingly-hot sun.

Under the laws of physics, planet WASP-18b orbiting a star 1,000 light years from Earth is too big and too close to its sun for comfort. The tidal interactions between the two massive objects should be pulling them together in a deadly gravitational embrace.

British astronomers say they have made a highly unusual planetary discovery in finding WASP-18b. Either they just happened to have witnessed an exceptionally rare event that they have likened to winning the lottery, or they do not understand the tidal forces affecting distant planets beyond our own solar system.

"The problem with this planet is that it's very massive and very close to its star. It should be creating tidal bulging that makes it spiral into its star," said Professor Andrew Collier Cameron of St Andrew's University.

The planet is at least one billion years old, yet at this rate it should have no more than half a million years left before it crashes into its own star. The chances of finding it at this point in its life cycle is about 1 in 2,000.

Professor Cameron said: "This is another bizarre planet discovery. The situation is analogous to the way tidal friction is gradually causing the Earth's spin to slow down, and the Moon to spiral away from the Earth," he said. "In this case, however, the spin of the star is slower than the orbit of the planet, so the star should be spinning up, and the planet spiralling in," he said.

www.independent.co.uk...

i am very interested in this part..can someone elaborate this more?

tidal friction is gradually causing the Earth's spin to slow down, and the Moon to spiral away from the Earth

I don't think they've came across some miracle. I think maybe things aren't as uncommon as we think they are.

reply to post by heineken


As the theory goes, Lunar tidal effects create friction which gradually transferees Earth's rotational momentum to the Moon's orbital velocity causing the Moon to slowly recede from Earth at the rate of approximately 38 millimeters per year. At the same time this loss of rotational momentum slows down the spin thus lengthening Earth's day by about 17 microseconds every year.

The diameter of the Moon can be accurately measured using a Gascoigne's micrometer. The Moon's apparent diameter changes during Lunar Perigee and Apogee.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f63a86a66f00.jpg[/atsimg]

The Moon also undergoes motions called Lunar Librations.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0b109fbd4932.gif[/atsimg]

The evidence seems to prove that the Moon is spiraling away but than again there are many other forces acting upon the Earth and our Moon and many yet unanswered questions.

More evidence to suggest that we live in an electrical universe as opposed to one governed by gravity and "dark matter".

No laws of physics are being defied.

1:2,000 chances aren't all that bad. We're constantly being reminded about how many planets there are out there, right? There are bound to be millions that are in similar unstable situations.

reply to post by karl 12


It seems misleading for them to say the planet defies the laws of physics. It's just that the planet is not stable long term because the force of it's star is greater than the outward pull of it's gravity. So it actually seems to be obeying the laws of physics perfectly. Scientists were just lucky enough to find it before it met its end.

reply to post by Phage


Many laws of physics are being defied. Don't tell me you are a believer in human science but can't fathom the fact that it could be dead wrong?

reply to post by metro

There is nothing going on with WASP-18b that defies any known laws of physics. The title of the article is incorrect. If you disagree, please explain. Don't just say "many laws".

[edit on 9/11/2009 by Phage]

I know making up laws makes us think we understand, but it amuses me when we write things down and state 'this is it'.

I am sure there are quite a few things out there that defy our 'laws of gravity' simply because out laws of gravity are incomplete (not necessarily wrong, but we don't have ALL the data to have ALL the laws).

As we learn and make technological advancements I am sure we will be re-writing/adding/amending.

It's a big place we live in and we don't know a lot in reality.

As my signature states, not long ago we thought the earth was flat (t'was the law and if you didn't agree you were stupid - or a heretic).

Long may we continue learning.

Given the choice between "we got lucky with our timing" and "that planet defies the laws of physics"... I think I'll choose we got lucky... until proven otherwise.

Interesting topic. S+F.
Found a photograph of WASP-18b. Does anyone know what it's atmospheric conditions are?

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/f0a9421dd543.jpg[/atsimg]

Found another image titled "Sulphate and Clay". Dont want to sighn up to the blog for one article. Hope this helps a bit.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/22768de4426e.jpg[/atsimg]

Another beautiful image, it resembles earth quite a bit.
www.inthenews.co.uk...$1321495.htm

[edit on 06/10/2009 by jinx880101]

reply to post by AlwaysQuestion

Yes, we are constantly learning new things. That is the function of science. Sometimes those new things give cause to revise our thinking. Usually they extend known ideas. Einstein did not invalidate Newton, he showed us the limits of Newton's math and gave is tools to get beyond those limits.


But it is a myth that "we thought the world was flat". The shape of the world has been known (by educated people) since people started thinking about it, since at least the ancient Greeks.

www.bede.org.uk...

It defies known physics as a planet that size, orbiting it's star at that speed should'nt be that old. It should've been pulled into it's sun a long time ago. Fair enough, it isn't a 'massive' thing but it should certainly make people think.

Maybe the Sun and the planet are repulsing each other as well as the planet spiralling in, keeping it in a locked orbit. Sort of rolling around on the powerful EM field generated by the Sun?

Also, is this planet gaseous like Jupiter? Because Damn! That would be a massive rock floating around up there.

EMM

reply to post by ElectroMagnetic Multivers


I am assuming, due to the proximity of it's sun, that it would be gaseous, or even plasma. Temperatures that close would probably vaporize even heavier elements!

reply to post by Phage


The article clearly states,

"The problem with this planet is that it's very massive and very close to its star. It should be creating tidal bulging that makes it spiral into its star," said Professor Andrew Collier Cameron of St Andrew's University.

It "should" be creating a tidal bulge BUT its not, therefore we can't really say its unstable as indications are that its orbiting quite happily around its sun - admittedly extremely close.

Source Astronomer Douglas Hamilton from the University of Maryland says it may not be a "suicidal planet" and that in ten years it should become apparent if it is in a death spiral - if not then woahoo *waggles eyebrows*

reply to post by Dae

Why do you say that it is not creating a tidal bulge? The article does not say that.

We only know that it is a large planet and it is in a very close orbit to its star. We know these things by indirect evidence. We don't know that the planet is not spiraling into its star and we certainly don't know that there is no tidal bulge. We cannot see the planet and the only thing we can see of the star is a point of light.

With what we know about it, there is no defying of the laws of physics going on. Sure, if it turns out that it is not spiraling in it will be apparent that something is going on that we don't know about. But that does not mean that the laws of physics are being defied, it means there's just one more thing we don't know about.

My bet is that it is going to crash.




[edit on 9/11/2009 by Phage]

reply to post by ElectroMagnetic Multivers

It defies known physics as a planet that size, orbiting it's star at that speed should'nt be that old. It should've been pulled into it's sun a long time ago.

Where did you get this information? That's not what the article (or the scientists) says.

The planet is at least one billion years old, yet at this rate it should have no more than half a million years left before it crashes into its own star.

www.independent.co.uk...

So, it's time is just about up. Less than 500,000 years until the end.

Not much to add to this one, other than I must agree with Phage that I do not see how the Laws of Physics are being defied, we simply do not know enough about the vary laws of physics and extra-terrestrial celestial mechanics to say that this defies physics.

On another note though, I think it is AWESOME that we all sit here now discussing the mechanics between a star and planet in ANOTHER solar system. Think about that....

Originally posted by metro
reply to post by Phage

 

Many laws of physics are being defied. Don't tell me you are a believer in human science but can't fathom the fact that it could be dead wrong?

Phage is right.

That isn't defying the laws of physics, it's simply defying what we think we know about how the known laws of physics apply to every situation -- such as how they apply to this planet. We humans learn new things every day that "tweaks" our knowledge of the physical universe -- HOWEVER that doesn't meant the what we do know is "wrong".

Obviously we do not know everything about everything, but to say that this defies the laws of physics is a huge overstatement, boarding on hyperbole.

The laws of physics as we know them are still in tact, however the existence of this planet does seem to show us that we need to learn a little more about super-sized planets.



[edit on 9/12/2009 by Soylent Green Is People]