Can a Gas Giant be distorted by a sun's gravity?

Kitty

Kitty
As the title asks, do you think that the stellar forge allows for a gas giant to be distorted by the gravity from a sun? Well, I think the answer is yes if the conditions are right. Have you found any in your travels and if so have you take any pictures of them.

In my last session exploring I came across this gas giant. It looked distorted, but I couldn't be sure, so I managed to align myself with the giant and the sun it was orbiting. This is what I discovered.

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What do you think? Is this right? Personally I think it is, but I welcome your comments.

This and other images on my updated blog (see my sig).
 

subhouse07

subhouse07
Yep I found one a couple days ago actually. You can even kinda tell see the distortion in the system map view as well.
 

Nutter

Nutter
Yes it can Kitty, the gravity pulls on the gas giant and can turn it egg shaped - I got a good example somewhere....
 

Feldspar

Feldspar
I'm not sure it is actually distorted by the star's gravity, I believe ovoid planets are due more to their own spin. The Earth itself bulges out more at the equator.
 

Vikestart

Vikestart
Feldspar said:
I'm not sure it is actually distorted by the star's gravity, I believe ovoid planets are due more to their own spin. The Earth itself bulges out more at the equator.
Click to expand...

That's a bit different. Earth looks like a perfect sphere from space, even though it isn't. That eggshapedness is minor.

This is something different and definitely has to do with proximity to a star. It's the roche effect. The eggshapedness is usually very pronounced in these cases, as the OP shows in their picture. Gravity is pulling much stronger on the side facing the star, distorting the shape of the planet. If it had been even closer, it would eventually get torn apart into smaller pieces.
 
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AJW

AJW
What the planet tidally locked? And was it oval when looked at from the poles? If not, it's shape is due to its rotation.
 

Kitty

Kitty
Some interesting stuff here.

I guess the question that needs answering is, was this factored in to the Stellar Forge? My thoughts is that it was, but that raises another question.

I guess it makes sense with gas giants as they are more um, pliable than s solid rock. But why is it when a very small body is exceptionally close to a star that the body is always round and never bulges. I would have thought that a similar effect would have been visible on those small bodies, or even the larger ones in very close proximity to a star.

I still look at the bodies that are very close to suns, but that gas giant is the only example I have seen so far in 900 systems.

Kitty


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AJW

AJW
Given that the planet isn't tidally locked, its shape can only be due to its own rotation. And noticeably-oval gas giants aren't particularly rare.

And incidentally, even if it were close to the Roche limit, and tidally locked, it wouldn't be shaped like that - it would be stretched along the axis facing the sun, rather than flattened along one of the other axes.
 
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Jukelo

Jukelo
But why is it when a very small body is exceptionally close to a star that the body is always round and never bulges. I would have thought that a similar effect would have been visible on those small bodies, or even the larger ones in very close proximity to a star.
Click to expand...

Although the star will cause a planet to be very slightly elongated on the axis going towards the star itself, the actually observable deformations are mostly due to the planet's own spin. If you check these clearly oblong gas giants, they all tend to be rather big and have relatively fast rotation periods, causing the tangential speed on the surface at the equator to be obsenely high. That's why they're wider in the middle, along the plane orthogonal to their axis of rotation.
 
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Y'Berion

Y'Berion
I don't think that Stellar Forge simulates Roche geometry. Perhaps I'm wrong, but all "compressed" planets that we've seen so far were having very fast spin.
 
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