Originally posted by Andy
Its definately possible for this to happen, all it would take is a body with a large gravitational field (could be anything) to have other smaller objects in orbit.
Hmm... I would have thought that mercury would undergo spaghetification due to the extreme tidal forces.Originally posted by Draco
I've never heard of a 'sunless solar system'
Although i have read, that if our sun collapsed into a stellar black hole, the planets would continue to orbit around it, but they'd receive no sunlight, and the Earth would die.
Actually in Science last term, there was a question on one of our homework sheets, something like "if the sun followed this process (how stars begin and die, we had to read that) what will happen to the planets? The Earht?"
Well i just wrote that the Earth would die because lack of sunlight, and i got it correct.
A sunless solar system is a hypothetical system in space that does not have a central star, such as a sun, at its center. Instead, it is comprised of objects such as planets, moons, and asteroids that orbit around each other without a dominant source of light and heat.
It is unlikely that a sunless solar system could support life as we know it, as the absence of a central star would lead to extreme cold temperatures and lack of light for photosynthesis. However, there is a possibility that life could exist on moons or planets within a sunless system if they have their own internal sources of heat and light.
The formation of a sunless solar system is still a topic of debate among scientists. One theory suggests that they may be formed from the remnants of a star that has exploded, leaving behind a collection of planets and other objects that continue to orbit each other. Another theory suggests that they may form from the collapse of a giant interstellar cloud of gas and dust.
Currently, there are no confirmed reports of a sunless solar system in our universe. However, there have been several potential candidates, such as the star system Epsilon Eridani, which has a debris disk that could potentially form planets without a central star. Further research and observations are needed to confirm the existence of sunless solar systems.
The discovery of a sunless solar system would greatly expand our understanding of the diversity of systems in our universe. It would also challenge our current theories and models of planetary formation, as well as raise questions about the potential for life to exist in unconventional environments. Additionally, it could have practical implications for future space exploration and the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar system.