The Science Geeks 9 members · 0 stories
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Here's what I'm asking:

Could a bunch of Earth-sized planets actually orbit and form a ring around the sun?

And by ring, I mean a complete ring around the sun, not front only, but a full ring of planets in a sun's Habitable Zone?

Physics wise, could this actually work? Or would gravity and Zero-Point/GFE(Ground Force Energy) pull them together causing problems and maybe destruction of said sun?

7477261 Yes, it could work. You could have a line of planets going all around the Sun.

However, you would have to set them apart exactly the same. If you misplaced one by a centimeter wrong, they'd start crashing into each other, eventually forming a massive planet.

You're better off just forming a ringworld around the Sun. That one is more stable since it has a firm structure and it's gravity isn't big enough to destroy itself.

But what you should really aim for is a Dyson Sphere.

7477390
I had the mental image of planets forming a ring around the sun, like saturn's rings but in the habitable zone if you get what I'm saying.

7477391 That wouldn't work.

The reason why the Saturn ring works is because stones keep bumping into each other. The closer they get, the more they bump into each other. That's more than enough to counter the little gravity that pulls them together.

With bigger things, however, you don't get the bumping. You get crashing and merging.

For life in the habitable zone, you need an atmosphere. And for the atmosphere, you need plenty of gravity which little stones in a ring can't provide. You can have an atmosphere with the planets, but then they start merging.

So, the short answer is, you can't have it the way you imagine it. It could work in theory, but in practice, it wouldn't work.

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