Avian, what's up with this new Earthlike planet?

[Bob Lentil]

Originally posted by Yesspaz
I thought BIG planets needed to be further out - that whole gravity/centrifigal-force thing. Because it's so big and so close to its sun, is that why it goes so fast around its orbit? It needs the centrifigal force?

Yes, that's why it has to go so fast around its orbit. Assuming it keeps the same mass but slows down, its orbit would decay and it would spiral into the sun. Likewise, if it maintains the same speed and gets heavier, the gravitational force between the sun and the planet increase, and you get the same result.

Technically, there is no such thing as centrifigal force. The sun exerts a centripital force on the planet due to gravity which causes the planet to curve around the sun in its orbit. Otherwise, the planet would just travel in a straight line.