Earth Might Have Been Flat in the Distant Past – Sort Of

Researchers at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) have discovered that newly formed planets could initially have a flatter shape before becoming more rounded, suggesting that the concept of a flat Earth might have some validity, albeit billions of years ago.

Planets typically emerge from protoplanetary discs, which are comprised of rings of dust and gas encircling stars. However, the precise process of planetary formation remains a topic of debate. The prevailing theory, core accretion, suggests that dust particles gradually aggregate, forming increasingly larger structures that eventually develop into planets. An alternative model, disc instability, is considered less favored but still viable. It proposes that planets form more rapidly when the protoplanetary disc cools and condenses into clumps that subsequently evolve into planets.

UCLan’s Supercomputer Simulations

In their recent research, the UCLan scientists conducted supercomputer simulations to explore an aspect of planet formation that has received little attention thus far – the initial shape of young planets.

“We’ve been delving into planet formation for quite some time, but it never occurred to us to examine the shape of emerging planets in our simulations,” noted Dr. Dimitris Stamatellos, a co-investigator of the study. “Previously, we had simply presumed they would be spherical.”

The researchers discovered that planets formed through disc instability don’t expand uniformly, maintaining a spherical shape throughout their growth process. Instead, they tend to accumulate more material at their poles than at their equators, causing them to stretch into an oblate spheroid, resembling a flattened oval shape. As these nascent planets continue to develop, they would eventually assume their characteristic spherical form.

Although these findings are based solely on simulations at present, the team suggests that observing young planets to determine if any exhibit this peculiar shape could provide insights into confirming or refuting the disc instability theory of planet formation.

The study has been approved for publication in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters journal (PDF).

Read the original article on: New Atlas

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