Question: Could a planet be orbited by a star, and if so, what would the environmental and social effects be on the planet?

      When imagining space, many think of an ever-expanding area filled with nothing, with no definite end, and no definite beginning. We as humans know so much about our earth and how it functions, yet when it comes to what lies just past our atmosphere, there is so much uncertainty and knowledge we have yet to find. Since the beginning of the Space Race in 1955, we have learned so much about the physics behind the billions of stars, planets, blackholes, nebulas, and the thousands of other objects floating around us, however many questions still get to be solved. For instance, “What would be the environmental and social effects of a planet being orbited by a sun?” In this article, I will answer these two questions as well as explain how this could or could not be possible. 

      For a star to be orbited by one or multiple planets, its mass must be great enough to be able to create a gravitational pull strong enough to hold planets in orbit around itself. Solar systems are formed by large clouds of debris and gases that crash together in a nuclear fusion reaction to create the nucleus of a solar system, the star. Once a star is formed, larger masses of debris and gases will collect around the star, eventually forming into planets (pictured left). This leads us to the first reason why a planet being the center of a solar system would be impossible: The first reason why a planet being the center of a solar system would be impossible is that a planet’s mass is much smaller than that of a star. The second reason why this would be impossible is that: If a planet were able to gather enough mass to hold a solar system together, the planet would become a star because of the pressure causing nuclear fusion. For example, the mass of our sun is over 333,000 times that of Earth and makes up for over 99.8% of all the mass in our solar system. Finally, if a star were to orbit this planet, the star would have to be a dwarf star that would be extremely small in comparison to the planet. 

      For the sake of sparing time, let’s title this imaginary planet “Unobtanium-B”, and the star “Fictitious–C” because of their unrealistic properties. So how would Unobtanium-B’s environment be affected in comparison to Earth? First of all, because of their larger masses, the two celestial bodies would be at closer proximity to one another because of their stronger gravitational pulls (pictured right). Because Fictitious-C is a dwarf star, its solar power would be weaker and cover a much smaller area of Unobtanium-B’s surface. To better understand this, imagine a small ball with a large flashlight shining on its surface. This represents Earth and our sun’s relationship. Now, imagine a basketball with a small flashlight shining on its surface from a closer distance. This represents Unobtanium-B’s relationship with Fictitious-C. The chance of the Unobtanium-B and Fictitious-C being at the right distance from one another to not melt or freeze Unobtanium-B would be very small and would require a strong atmosphere consisting of similar gasses to our own to insulate the environment. If Fictitious-C produced a lot of thermal and light energy, its proximity to Unobtanium-B would most likely lead to very hot temperatures during the day and freezing temperatures during the night. 

      As with all solar systems, the chance of Unobtanium-B’s environment being habitable is extremely low. As mentioned above, the chance of Unobtanium-B and Fictitious-C being in the right proximity to not burn the planet or freeze it would be minuscule. Because of its focalized light and heat spread, Fictitious-C’s energy would most likely be deadly to any who stood in it directly or left the area that it covered. Going by this assumption, we would have to assume that any alien species such as animals or plants would have to live in the outer ring of Fictitious-C’s light. Mobility would be key, and most animals would evolve to learn to move to wherever the sun was setting/rising. Life would be almost impossible unless Fictitious-C’s orbit was incredibly slow because moving distances over such a large planet would be almost impossible. Because of a plant’s natural inability to move at faster paces, most if not all plants would die. For humans to colonize Unobtanium-B, cities would have to be made on wheels or rails and move in select patterns to follow the habitable zone. The only other option would be to create cities underground, which would use the planet as an insulator to hold the heat and cold at a moderate temperature. 

       To conclude and summarize our findings and finally answer our question as a whole; a planet being orbited by a star, no matter how small of a dwarf star or how big of a planet, would be impossible. This is because of the way solar systems are formed paired with the masses of planets in comparison to stars which makes this phenomenon impossible. It is also because a planet with enough mass to become the center of a solar system would collapse and become a star because of its own forces. In terms of the environmental impacts on the planet, if this could happen, we learned about the focalized energy of the sun, and how its temperatures would go between extremities because of this focalization unless an extremely strong atmosphere was present. Finally, we learned about how life would be almost impossible on this planet because of its extreme temperatures, and how if we were to colonize it, we would need to live underground or on the move. This subject was very interesting to research and hypothesize about, and I believe it would make an interesting base for a film. Thank you for your time reading and I hope you learned more about space physics, environments, and life in extraterrestrial environments.

Below is a video partially explaining the content of the first body paragraph:

Sources: 

Beech, Martin. “Solar System.” The Gale Encyclopedia of Science, edited by Katherine H. Nemeh and Jacqueline L. Longe, 6th ed., vol. 7, Gale, 2021, pp. 4098-4103. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX8124402277/SCIC?u=43riss&sid=bookmark-SCIC&xid=93daf4d0. Accessed 28 May 2024. 

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Kepler’s laws of planetary motion”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 May. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/science/Keplers-laws-of-planetary-motion. Accessed 29 May 2024. 

Lea, Robert. “What Is the Mass of the Sun?” Space.Com, Space, 6 Dec. 2018, www.space.com/42649-solar-mass.html#section-additional-resources. Accessed 3 June 2024.