Re: Planet rotation

[Chuck Britton <britton@ODIE.NCSSM.EDU>]

> At 11:41 AM 7/7/99 -0400, Jim Braunsdorf wrote:
> >I was reading a couple of recent notes and started wondering about
> planetary rotations.
> >      Is it possible for a planet not to rotate?
> >
> Planets were formed by the accretion of matter from the pre-solar disk that
> surrounded the protosun. In order for a planet to end up with no rotation,
> the net angular momentum of all of the constitute particles that
> contributed to its condensation would have to add up to zero. This is
> possible but not very likely. And as others have indicated, once planets
> form they interact with other bodies like the sun and their moons through
> tidal forces that can alter a planet's rotation.
>
>
> Ron Ebert
> ron.ebert@ucr.edu


If indeed, as it appears, Venus has retrograde rotation, won't the
sun's tidal effect be to STOP its rotation (relative to the 'fixed'
stars) and then move it toward the non-retrogade rotation that will
match its year?

  -.     .-.     .-.     .-.     .-.     .-.     .-.     .-.     .-.     .-
    \   /   \   /   \ N /   \ C /   \ S /   \ S /   \ M /   \   /   \   /
     `-'     `-'     `-'     `-'     `-'     `-'     `-'     `-'     `-'
Chuck Britton                                   Education is what is left when
britton@odie.ncssm.edu                          you have forgotten everything
North Carolina School of Science & Math         you learned in school.
(919) 286-3366  x224                            Albert Einstein,        1936