|
Yes it was. Actually from the modeling that has been done on planets in this situation, despite the differences in temps between the two sides of the planet (if it's in fact tidally locked), the climates are far more stable than you might suppose. The atmospheres of the planets equilibrate fairly quickly and the temp differences become less pronounced, depending on how thick the atmosphere is. A planet of the size of this one will have a pretty substantial atmosphere...at least as thick as ours. I've included links about this in a previous post.
One thing that will be present, though, at the anti-solar point on the day side and that is a huge convection cell....cyclone, several thousand miles across, especially if it's covering an ocean.
However, the assumption of tidal locking was based on it's proximity to the parent star (over 13 million miles). But there's no guarantee that it is tidally locked....it's a large planet at a fair distance from a rather small star. Tidal locking depends on how the orbit of the planet, the rotation rates of the star and planet, the balance between the masses and the amount of flexure induced in the body of the planet by tidal influences has evolved over time. It might spin on its axis every 36 days, the same as its orbital period...we just don't know, yet.
|