A donut planet, also known as a toroid planet or toroidal planet, is a theoretical type of planet that resembles a donut, rather than a typical sphere. While a donut planet is extremely unlikely to naturally exist anywhere in the universe, it is theoretically possible for such a planet to exist.
Description
A donut planet would resemble a toroid, or a donut, as it would have a hole in the middle of its body. While it is impossible for planets of shapes other than spheres (excluding irregular shapes like asteroids), such as a cube or diamond, to exist without violating the laws of physics, a planet with an annular shape would be physically possible. Such a planet, however, would have to clear some serious physical hurdles in order to actually exist.
Planets are typically spherical in shape because of gravity pulling them inward. To keep the hole at the center of a donut planet without it collapsing, an equal outward force would be required. Centrifugal force could provide the necessary force for this. To keep the hole at the center, a donut planet would need to spin at an extremely high rate, which would cause a day on a donut world to only last for a few hours. Weather on such a planet would be extreme. Intense winds and compact superstorm systems would form, and zoned climates with massive temperature differences would be present on the planet.
Gravity on a donut planet would be very different from gravity on a typical planet. The centrifugal force would make gravity the weakest at the equator, while the strongest gravity would be near the poles, similar to Earth, except much more massive and noticeable. Gravity would be strongest just inward from the poles, and the gravity at the poles would be twice as much as at the equator.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
