Mesklin
Encyclopedia
Mesklin is the name of a fictional
supergiant planet
created by Hal Clement
and used in a number of his hard science fiction
stories.
It is distinctive for the interaction of its strong gravity with the centrifugal force
due to its fast rotation, originating, according to Clement's original calculations, a gee force
gradient
, starting at 3 g on the equator, and ending at 665 g on the planet's poles.
, which was serialized in Astounding Science Fiction (April–July 1953). Other fictional works using the planet or its denizens include "Under", "Lecture Demonstration
", and Star Light
. The book Heavy Planet is a collection of Mesklin-related works.
Clement described the basic characteristics of Mesklin in the article "Whirligig World" in Astounding Science Fiction (June 1953). He based the world on an object then thought to exist in the 61 Cygni
system, which had been detected by analysis of the motion of the two already known stars in the system. Further analysis with more extensive data led to the conclusion that the find had been erroneous.
Clement decided, since its mass was 16 times that of Jupiter
, Mesklin would have an extremely large angular frequency
to partly counter its gravity in order to allow humans to visit part of it. He wanted the equatorial gravity to be 3 g, so he determined the period necessary to make this occur: each Mesklin day is 17.75 minutes long given that the planet rotates approximately 20 degrees a minute.
As a result of this extremely large rate of spin, Mesklin is not even slightly spherical; it has a large equatorial bulge
. Mesklin's equatorial diameter is 48,000 miles (77,250 km), while from pole-to-pole along its axis of rotation it is 19,740 miles (31,770 km). Then Clement attempted to calculate the polar gravity, finding it surprisingly difficult. He admits, "To be perfectly frank, I don't know the exact value of the polar gravity; the planet is so oblate that the usual rule of spheres... would not even be a good approximation..." "Whirligig World" reports his initial calculations of the pole gravity to be 655 g; the dust jacket
of Heavy Planet reports it as 700 g. A later program created by Clement computed it as 275 g, as did a similar program written by the MIT Science Fiction Society
. The MIT group also concluded that the planet would have had a sharp edge at the equator. Clement also gave Mesklin a set of rings and massive moons. The inner moon is 90,000 miles from the planet's center, with a period of 2 hours 8 minutes.
Clement assumed Mesklin's orbit
around its star (which he decided would be 61 Cygni A) took 1,800 Earth-days, and was highly elliptical: at its closest point the average temperature would be −50 °C, while at the furthest its average temperature would be −180 °C. Since the orbit is eccentric it moves rapidly past its sun at the closest point, so its temperature would be around −170 °C most of the time.
Hal Clement decided this imaginary world would have native life-forms, that they would be based on methane
(CH4), and there would be oceans of methane. However, methane has a low boiling point, suggesting that Mesklin's sun might boil its oceans and cause the methane to escape the planet entirely. Thus, the writer arranged the planet so its northern hemisphere's midsummer occurs when it is nearest its sun. Thus, the northern hemisphere would develop a large frozen methane cap during most of its year; the southern hemisphere (where most creatures live) is protected from the sun's closest approach by the rest of the planet. He also asserted the planet would have a fairly rapid precession
.
Clement noted that several of his story ideas resulted from a personal tendency to react contrarily to certain "common sense" assertions, which had the nature of "of course": [some situation] has [some certain characteristic], but of course it cannot have [some other characteristic]. The notion of Mesklin's odd configuration stemmed from the fact that there were science fiction stories that featured low-gravity planets and high-gravity planets, but of course no single planet could have both low and high gravity.
In "Whirligig World", Hal Clement stated he gave "official permission to anyone who so desires to lay scenes there [in Mesklin]. I ask only that he maintain reasonable scientific standards, and that's certainly an elastic requirement in the field of science fiction."
Mesklin, "Whirligig World", and the Clement stories based on them are important in science fiction
because they illustrated how to carefully incorporate all known (at the time) scientific facts into an interesting setting, which could then be used as a basis to create interesting stories. They were also the first stories set outside the solar system on a planet believed (then) to actually exist.
Planets in science fiction
Planets in science fiction are fictional planets that appear in various media, especially those of the science fiction genre, as story-settings or depicted locations.-History:...
supergiant planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
created by Hal Clement
Hal Clement
Harry Clement Stubbs better known by the pen name Hal Clement, was an American science fiction writer and a leader of the hard science fiction subgenre.-Biography:...
and used in a number of his hard science fiction
Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
stories.
It is distinctive for the interaction of its strong gravity with the centrifugal force
Centrifugal force
Centrifugal force can generally be any force directed outward relative to some origin. More particularly, in classical mechanics, the centrifugal force is an outward force which arises when describing the motion of objects in a rotating reference frame...
due to its fast rotation, originating, according to Clement's original calculations, a gee force
G-force
The g-force associated with an object is its acceleration relative to free-fall. This acceleration experienced by an object is due to the vector sum of non-gravitational forces acting on an object free to move. The accelerations that are not produced by gravity are termed proper accelerations, and...
gradient
Gradient
In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar field is a vector field that points in the direction of the greatest rate of increase of the scalar field, and whose magnitude is the greatest rate of change....
, starting at 3 g on the equator, and ending at 665 g on the planet's poles.
Overview
The planet first appeared in the novel Mission of GravityMission of Gravity
Mission of Gravity is a science fiction novel by Hal Clement. The novel was serialized in Astounding Science Fiction magazine in April–July 1953. Its first hardcover book publication was in 1954, and it was first published as a paperback book in 1958...
, which was serialized in Astounding Science Fiction (April–July 1953). Other fictional works using the planet or its denizens include "Under", "Lecture Demonstration
Lecture Demonstration
Lecture Demonstration is a short story by Hal Clement. It was first published in Astounding: The John W Campbell Memorial Anthology in 1973.-Plot introduction:...
", and Star Light
Star Light
Star Light is a science fiction novel by Hal Clement. It is the sequel to one of Clement's earlier books, Mission of Gravity. The novel was serialized in four parts in Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact Magazine from June to September 1970...
. The book Heavy Planet is a collection of Mesklin-related works.
Clement described the basic characteristics of Mesklin in the article "Whirligig World" in Astounding Science Fiction (June 1953). He based the world on an object then thought to exist in the 61 Cygni
61 Cygni
61 Cygni,Not to be confused with 16 Cygni, a more distant system containing two G-type stars harboring the gas giant planet 16 Cygni Bb. sometimes called Bessel's Star or Piazzi's Flying Star, is a binary star system in the constellation Cygnus...
system, which had been detected by analysis of the motion of the two already known stars in the system. Further analysis with more extensive data led to the conclusion that the find had been erroneous.
Clement decided, since its mass was 16 times that of Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
, Mesklin would have an extremely large angular frequency
Angular frequency
In physics, angular frequency ω is a scalar measure of rotation rate. Angular frequency is the magnitude of the vector quantity angular velocity...
to partly counter its gravity in order to allow humans to visit part of it. He wanted the equatorial gravity to be 3 g, so he determined the period necessary to make this occur: each Mesklin day is 17.75 minutes long given that the planet rotates approximately 20 degrees a minute.
As a result of this extremely large rate of spin, Mesklin is not even slightly spherical; it has a large equatorial bulge
Equatorial bulge
An equatorial bulge is a difference between the equatorial and polar diameters of a planet, due to the centrifugal force of its rotation. A rotating body tends to form an oblate spheroid rather than a sphere...
. Mesklin's equatorial diameter is 48,000 miles (77,250 km), while from pole-to-pole along its axis of rotation it is 19,740 miles (31,770 km). Then Clement attempted to calculate the polar gravity, finding it surprisingly difficult. He admits, "To be perfectly frank, I don't know the exact value of the polar gravity; the planet is so oblate that the usual rule of spheres... would not even be a good approximation..." "Whirligig World" reports his initial calculations of the pole gravity to be 655 g; the dust jacket
Dust jacket
The dust jacket of a book is the detachable outer cover, usually made of paper and printed with text and illustrations. This outer cover has folded flaps that hold it to the front and back book covers...
of Heavy Planet reports it as 700 g. A later program created by Clement computed it as 275 g, as did a similar program written by the MIT Science Fiction Society
MIT Science Fiction Society
The MIT Science Fiction Society is a literary society and library of science fiction and fantasy books and magazines, located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
. The MIT group also concluded that the planet would have had a sharp edge at the equator. Clement also gave Mesklin a set of rings and massive moons. The inner moon is 90,000 miles from the planet's center, with a period of 2 hours 8 minutes.
Clement assumed Mesklin's orbit
Orbit
In physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of an object around a point in space, for example the orbit of a planet around the center of a star system, such as the Solar System...
around its star (which he decided would be 61 Cygni A) took 1,800 Earth-days, and was highly elliptical: at its closest point the average temperature would be −50 °C, while at the furthest its average temperature would be −180 °C. Since the orbit is eccentric it moves rapidly past its sun at the closest point, so its temperature would be around −170 °C most of the time.
Hal Clement decided this imaginary world would have native life-forms, that they would be based on methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
(CH4), and there would be oceans of methane. However, methane has a low boiling point, suggesting that Mesklin's sun might boil its oceans and cause the methane to escape the planet entirely. Thus, the writer arranged the planet so its northern hemisphere's midsummer occurs when it is nearest its sun. Thus, the northern hemisphere would develop a large frozen methane cap during most of its year; the southern hemisphere (where most creatures live) is protected from the sun's closest approach by the rest of the planet. He also asserted the planet would have a fairly rapid precession
Precession of the equinoxes
In astronomy, axial precession is a gravity-induced, slow and continuous change in the orientation of an astronomical body's rotational axis. In particular, it refers to the gradual shift in the orientation of Earth's axis of rotation, which, like a wobbling top, traces out a pair of cones joined...
.
Clement noted that several of his story ideas resulted from a personal tendency to react contrarily to certain "common sense" assertions, which had the nature of "of course": [some situation] has [some certain characteristic], but of course it cannot have [some other characteristic]. The notion of Mesklin's odd configuration stemmed from the fact that there were science fiction stories that featured low-gravity planets and high-gravity planets, but of course no single planet could have both low and high gravity.
In "Whirligig World", Hal Clement stated he gave "official permission to anyone who so desires to lay scenes there [in Mesklin]. I ask only that he maintain reasonable scientific standards, and that's certainly an elastic requirement in the field of science fiction."
Mesklin, "Whirligig World", and the Clement stories based on them are important in science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
because they illustrated how to carefully incorporate all known (at the time) scientific facts into an interesting setting, which could then be used as a basis to create interesting stories. They were also the first stories set outside the solar system on a planet believed (then) to actually exist.