What if the world stopped spinning?

[J Arcane]

Technically, all planets have rings. They just don't all have big pretty ones like Saturn. Earth has rings, it's just that the particle field is so small it's not even really visible to the naked eye.

The biggest issue with having sizable rings like Saturn's would be the obstacles it would present to future space programs.

[Vandabo]

The tidal locking effect could happen to planets around stars, but it usually seems like they have to be really close to the stars for this to happen, which usually would end with an uninhabitable planet.

Perhaps for a story you could have a binary system with a dense but dark star like a neutron star and a very small dwarf star that doesn't put out much light but has a planet tidally locked to it. Another example would be like what happens in the movie 2010 (can't remember if its like this in the book) where Jupiter is turned into a small star, and its moon Europa (which is tidally locked) is now in its habitable orbit.

[Hawkzombie]

Holy crap, these are all awesome starting points for me to attack this from. I'm gonna read through this more in-depth after dinner with my folks tonight (still on vacation) but I fully plan on really going more into the idea.

I want a lot more grounded in actual science, and to avoid using magic as a 'catch-all' for what I can't really explain.

I will say the idea of the core not spinning is something I had NOT thought of, and could easily explain it as still moving so that the atmosphere still exists. At any rate, this is some GREAT stuff to think on. I never even thought of tilting the axis so that a POLE was facing the sun always either...that would be MOST interesting...

[digitalErich]

Have you thought of having your "world" actually be a moon that is locked between its planet and the planet's star, in an orbit that results in what is basically a permanent alignment? It solves the magnetosphere issue (several of Jupiter's moons orbit w/in Jupiter's magnetosphere) but then again it's unlikely a moon would spin in a completely different plane of it's planet, at least for very long.

That permanent alignment orbit is likely unstable as well, but people would have to do math to prove it, so it's probably good enough science for a fiction setting. Same goes for the rotational plane of the moon world.

I think someone already mentioned the 2010 idea, which is close to what I'm thinking, only you don't turn the planet into a second star.

[Voodoo]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

Technically no. In synchronous rotation, the orbiting body itself is still spinning. This is actually necessary because it can't offer the same face to the Sun all of the time if it isn't.

Technically, yes. This is exactly what Hawkzombie was asking about. He might not have realized that the planet is actually still rotating though.

Also, technically, I do not believe it is possible for an orbiting body not to rotate due to interactions between the two masses.

A planet example I find extremely interesting is the one that Game of Thrones resides on. There, they have winters that can last for decades and summers that last for a few years (much shorter duration than the winters). Here, we are used to seasonal changes nearly every quarter year...

[Ink Asylum]

The Game of Thrones planet seems magical in its origins, though. The seasons don't seem to be predictable. Has anyone come up with a scientific theory for how it could be the result of some crazy orbit?

[Voodoo]

Originally Posted by Ink Asylum

The Game of Thrones planet seems magical in its origins, though. The seasons don't seem to be predictable. Has anyone come up with a scientific theory for how it could be the result of some crazy orbit?

Well, it has day & night cycles so we know it is rotating at a good rate. There is a moon (used to be two). Hmm... If I were to make a guess, it just orbits its sun at a much much much slower pace and in an off center elliptical orbit; almost a comet-like orbit but not as far out.

EDIT - So much for thinking about it... George has already stated that it is due to magic and will be revealed in the last book.

That only brings up this in my mind...

[Ink Asylum]

Originally Posted by Voodoo

Well, it has day & night cycles so we know it is rotating at a good rate. There is a moon (used to be two). Hmm... If I were to make a guess, it just orbits its sun at a much much much slower pace and in an off center elliptical orbit; almost a comet-like orbit but not as far out.

It has to be more complex than that, given the seemingly random variance in length of seasons.

Here's an article on the topic.

It’s been a popular topic on the A Song of Ice and Fire forums, this whole matter of what causes the weird seasons. Suggested theories have ranged as far as suggesting dark planets in the near vicinity, perhaps a binary star, and more. But it’s rather fruitless; the author is prosaic on the topic and has provided the direct answer: it’s magic, trying to figure out a scientific, realistic explanation is bound to fail. If the magic means that some sorcerous force works on a planet-wide scale to tilt the planet this way or that... well, that’s what it means. Or is it? Can there be some combination of physical causes that would approximate the apparent-unpredictability and lengthiness of the seasons? I’ve yet to see someone manage anything convincing, but it may be an interesting puzzle for the more scientifically inclined.

[LongStepMantis]

Originally Posted by Hawkzombie

I will say the idea of the core not spinning is something I had NOT thought of, and could easily explain it as still moving so that the atmosphere still exists.

I'd go with with the "a wizard did it" method, while simultaneously wanting to keep some form of scientific grounding. Maybe some sort of fire wizardry. A sect of some kind that uses their arcane powers to keep the core in motion. Plus they can smoke bitches with spouts of molten death and lava golem constructs. You got magic in my science!

[Karak]

Originally Posted by Ink Asylum

It has to be more complex than that, given the seemingly random variance in length of seasons.

Here's an article on the topic.

Perhaps a cloud of matter of varying thickness between the star and the planet coupled with a unique orbit and spin. Only a bit of matter between a sun and a planet can drastically impact the actual temps of the planet. The matter spins around the sun, the planet around the sun as well as a unique orbit. It would be possible.
I don't know about Song planets though. If they can forcast what kind of winter will occur...than that wouldn't be a good explanation. If they don't know it could be.

But its magic anyway. Still interesting.

I have always been interested in a binary+ system with 2 stars and a triple failed star in the same solar system(jupitor like) and the interactions. Makes you realize just how lucky we are.

[Wasson_]

if the world stopped turning?

I wonder how it would effect geothermal activity...perhaps Venus's slow rotation contributed to it's explosive past.

[civil_dead]

Consider reading: http://amzn.com/0812992970

[Hawkzombie]

What I've been leaning towards is a set of great 'beasts' that had roamed the land and were imprisoned. The spell that freed them affected the spin and tilt of the world to one that would release them (IE: Those trapped under the arctic poles would have that exposed to the sun until it melted/evaporated and caused flooding and new environs, etc) but the spell was altered in a bad way and stopped after freeing only a few.

As for the core, I'm toying with the idea of one of the beasts (They're kinda like Elder Gods, but born of magic. I'm also thinking of making them overly good, and humanity, those responsible for overthrowing them and imprisoning them, the greedy bad guys, lustful for their power, etc) the new 'core' of the world. Basically it keeps the world spinning, and thus from totally destroying itself.

I really was focused on the idea of a sunless/dark world because of the different things I could do. An eternal winter seems like it might be more plausible (I WANT VIKING ELVES) and I won't have to simply go with 'a wizard did it' to explain it all away.

I may completely dump the idea of one of the sides forever facing the sun because it seems TOO fantastical. However changes in seasons can easily be explained by a change of orbit and speed of said orbit without stretching the suspension of disbelief too much.

civil: That looks interesting. Going to add it to my list of books to read.

[VerseD]

Sounds like a sharply dualist, good and evil plot, which can tend to make judgment and violence too clean and tidy an issue for any human heart. Don't forget to mix it up with these gods and mortals. Nobody, after all, spends all his or her life exclusively in the camp of good or evil.

That said, on a world so starkly divided between life and death, the two part character seems to fit. You might try looking at other dualistic cosmologies in Zoroastrianism or Christian Gnosticism for ideas and inspiration.

[Reverant]

Originally Posted by VerseD

Sounds like a sharply dualist, good and evil plot, which can tend to make judgment and violence too clean and tidy an issue for any human heart. Don't forget to mix it up with these gods and mortals. Nobody, after all, spends all his or her life exclusively in the camp of good or evil.

That said, on a world so starkly divided between life and death, the two part character seems to fit. You might try looking at other dualistic cosmologies in Zoroastrianism or Christian Gnosticism for ideas and inspiration.

Yeah, I was about to say that sounds like a sci-fi Zoroastrian thing. Manichaeism is another ancient light/dark good/evil cosmology, though IIRC it's not entirely distinct from Zoroastrianism.

[Shieldmaiden]

[Karak]

Originally Posted by Hawkzombie

What I've been leaning towards is a set of great 'beasts' that had roamed the land and were imprisoned. The spell that freed them affected the spin and tilt of the world to one that would release them (IE: Those trapped under the arctic poles would have that exposed to the sun until it melted/evaporated and caused flooding and new environs, etc) but the spell was altered in a bad way and stopped after freeing only a few.

As for the core, I'm toying with the idea of one of the beasts (They're kinda like Elder Gods, but born of magic. I'm also thinking of making them overly good, and humanity, those responsible for overthrowing them and imprisoning them, the greedy bad guys, lustful for their power, etc) the new 'core' of the world. Basically it keeps the world spinning, and thus from totally destroying itself.

I really was focused on the idea of a sunless/dark world because of the different things I could do. An eternal winter seems like it might be more plausible (I WANT VIKING ELVES) and I won't have to simply go with 'a wizard did it' to explain it all away.

I may completely dump the idea of one of the sides forever facing the sun because it seems TOO fantastical. However changes in seasons can easily be explained by a change of orbit and speed of said orbit without stretching the suspension of disbelief too much.

civil: That looks interesting. Going to add it to my list of books to read.

A gameworld I created, and you can steal from, had an ancient creature that all the gods had to combine to tackle was imprisoned inside the world and was chained to the core. It constantly ran along the inside of the planet in anger, which kept it rotating(that was the myth at least). However that allowed me to have days where the sun did not set or rise and added variability to the world. It also allowed for myths about earthquakes and volcanoes and so forth.

[Hawkzombie]

Intriguing...

Also, a more interesting idea: What if I turned the world very slowly? Like 6 months of day, six months of night like Alaska and the north pole?

[shunoshi]

That's exactly what would happen if the world stopped its own rotation.

[Karak]

Originally Posted by Hawkzombie

Intriguing...

Also, a more interesting idea: What if I turned the world very slowly? Like 6 months of day, six months of night like Alaska and the north pole?

Yep very cool. I love those ideas for the simple fact that it allows some crazy ass echology to exist. Almost like a Pitch Black type thing. With unique lifeforms and plant life.