Climate on Venus after it becomes tidally locked

Asked by: Michael Hoff

What would weather be like on a tidally locked planet?

Tidal-locking planets receive very uneven stellar heating because their one side permanently faces their stars and the other remains dark. While the dayside can be warm enough to sustain liquid water, the nightside could be so cold that any gases would condense out.

Will Venus become tidally locked?

Venus is not tidally locked to any other body in our solar system. It does not seem likely that Venus will end up tidally locked, either, and this holds true in relation to Venus potentially locking to both the Earth and the Sun.

How long until Venus is tidally locked?

He discovered that in fact, it only should have taken 6.5 million years for Venus to get tidally locked. That is only a small fraction of the 4.5 billion years for which the solar system exists.

Which planets are tidally locked?

Pluto and Charon are both tidally locked to each other. Close binary stars throughout the universe are expected to be tidally locked with each other. An unusual example is Tau Boötis, a star tidally locked by a planet.

Do tidally locked planets have seasons?

Seasons can definitely occur on a tidally locked planet. Just like normal planets, tidally-locked planets don’t need to have perfectly circular orbits. This means that over the course of a single orbit, this planet would receive different amounts of light from the star as it slowly moves away and then towards it.

Could tidally locked planets be habitable?

A tidally locked extrasolar planet with an atmosphere that allows for enough heat transport from the day side to the night side would perhaps have balmy enough temperatures for life to exist even if the sun never shines. So far, the existence of life outside Earth is of course completely hypothetical.

Can life evolve on a tidally locked planet?

“No planet that is not tidally locked is able to support life,” says Dr Alienway, “because every day there would be long periods of darkness. We know from our planet that life cannot stand sustained light deprivation.” The side of the planet under perpetual night would also be game for life.

Will Earth eventually become tidally locked?

It is theoretically possible that the Earth will tidally lock to the Moon in about 50 billion years or so. Assuming the Earth and Moon weren’t consumed during the Sun’s red giant phase.

Will the Earth eventually be tidally locked?

The Earth’s sidereal day would eventually have the same length as the Moon’s orbital period, about 47 times the length of the Earth’s day at present. However, Earth is not expected to become tidally locked to the Moon before the Sun becomes a red giant and engulfs Earth and the Moon.

Do tidally locked planets have day and night?

If so, see answers to Planet Tidally-Locked to its star having eclipse day/night cycles? If your planet is habitable everywhere (still quite possible with a good enought weather system), then by definition a tidally-locked planet will have a hard time getting day/night cycles

Can a tidally locked planet become unlocked?

No. Not without another body getting involved. Tidal forces within the planet are constantly pushing it towards the “locked” state, you need a massive input of energy to change that.

Why is Venus spinning backwards?

An explanation for the backward, or retrograde, rotation is not certain. A long-held theory is that Venus once rotated as the other planets do, but was struck billions of years ago by a planet-size object. The impact and its aftermath caused the rotation to change directions or flipped the planetary axis.

Can tidally locked planets have an atmosphere?

Atmospheric heat distribution could also contribute to a milder climate. On tidally locked planets capable of retaining an atmosphere, winds could bring warm air from the dayside to the colder nightside and vice versa. This effect could be enhanced on planets with oceans.

Do tidally locked planets have wind?

Her computer models show that a tidally locked planet might have two strong wind jets, one in each hemisphere, that might act a bit like the jet stream here on Earth. But if the planet is too close to the sun, it might have only one wind jet, directly over the part closest to the sun.

Can a tidally locked planet have rings?

Based on what we see around Saturn and Jupiter, we’d expect your system to have exactly two rings: one just inside the planet’s orbit and one just outside it. A final note though; a tidally locked water world would have some serious “thermal” problems.

Do tidally locked planets have wind?

Her computer models show that a tidally locked planet might have two strong wind jets, one in each hemisphere, that might act a bit like the jet stream here on Earth. But if the planet is too close to the sun, it might have only one wind jet, directly over the part closest to the sun.

What would happen to the water on Earth if it were tidally locked on the sun?

There would be no seasons, and temperatures on the Sun-facing side would get hot enough to boil water. Meanwhile, the dark side would become frigid, with the only source of heat being the ocean circulation and winds from the sunny side.

Can a tidally locked planet have day and night?

Such planets show only one face to their star, a situation known as tidal locking. A tidally locked planet is a bifurcated world. On one side it’s always day; on the other, eternal night.

Can a tidally locked planet have a moon?

Yes, but with limitations. The fact that a planet is tidally locked does not by itself stop it having a moon or a satellite.

Can life evolve on a tidally locked planet?

“No planet that is not tidally locked is able to support life,” says Dr Alienway, “because every day there would be long periods of darkness. We know from our planet that life cannot stand sustained light deprivation.” The side of the planet under perpetual night would also be game for life.

Will Earth eventually become tidally locked?

It is theoretically possible that the Earth will tidally lock to the Moon in about 50 billion years or so. Assuming the Earth and Moon weren’t consumed during the Sun’s red giant phase.