Planet size: how big can they get ?

[Infojunky]

"Satan's world" IIRC. It was in fact, the inspiration for the question.

I was thinking Lodestar myself.......

I believe Satan's world was a captured rogue on a large eccentric orbit...

Lodestar ? Hmmm. Is it a shortstory ?

And, yeah, satan's world was a rogue. Can't remember if they suggest it wandered off from a remnant star or formed as a small microprotosunlet thingie.

I just read all of the Polesotechnic League stories, they collected them into a two volume set, and i still had to go look up the name of the story....

 

[captainjack23]

Thanks. assuming the atmosphere is blown off , could one find a silicate type bigger than B ?

Size 9 and A is pushing it. B is just about possible, depending on world density and other circumstances (Panthalassics do tend to be lower density than Earth despite having larger radius, because they're about 1-2 earth masses of high density rock/metal and 1-2 earth masses of lower density water/volatiles). Anything bigger would essentially be a very small gas giant regardless of density, with a few thousand km of atmosphere over a solid surface.

Hmmm. At a suffuicient density will gravitational warming become an issue ?

It won't be an issue in a body that's mostly solid. Heating due to gravitational contraction is only an issue with proper gas giants, with tens of thousands of km of atmosphere.

Thanks !

So, it sounds like B is about the limit where rocky planets get denser faster than they get bigger ? (Atmosphere aside)