Gravity darkening

Encyclopedia : G : GR : GRA : Gravity darkening

The factual accuracy of this article is [Accuracy disputedisputed].
Please see the relevant discussion on the [

Gravity darkening is a astronomical phenomenon where a star rotates so rapidly that it has a detectibly oblate shape, such as in Regulus in the Leo constellation.

There are two contradicting theories for the phenomenon of gravity darkening:

At the two poles, where the surface of the star is closer to its core, the surface begins to take on the characteristics of a weak black hole as the material becomes progressively denser, allowing fewer photons to escape.
The matter at the poles is attracted to the outermost edges affected by the centrifugal force, and as such the star becomes somewhat torusoidal in shape, since hydrogen fusion around the outer edge of the star generates a great deal of light, while the apparent "hole" in the middle is attributable to a relative scarcity of atoms.

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.