Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
The interesting case is the Sun, it's no prolated by gravity.
edit:
Speaking of keeping up, as I did at #568, now the Moon is a planet!
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1) Gas cannot support a load.
2) Gravity is acting radially, in hydrostatic equilibrium, pressing equally from all directions towards the Sun's center-point.
3) If it had a crust, centrifugal force could try an sling it apart, mostly along its equator, where angular velocity is greatest. And we'd see a bulge.
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As to 'moons', hasn't it simply been a convention to refer to any celestial body trapped within a gravitationally-bound orbit around a more massive body, as a 'moon'?