<p>Due to gravitation attraction <a href="https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/47143/20231116/why-celestial-bodies-tend-spherical-unraveling-influence-gravity-space.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">celestial bodies tend to be spherical</a>. It's just the way cosmic material coalesces. Smaller bodies, such as asteroids can be odd shaped, similar to potatoes etc., but beyond a specific size the tendency is towards spherical bodies.</p>
<p>On SE Space Exploration, there is a question, <a href="https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/9607/why-are-smaller-celestial-bodies-like-ceres-spherical"><em>Why are smaller celestial bodies like Ceres spherical?</em></a>, which has an answer.</p>
<p>For a flat planet to exist it would need to have the top and bottom sheared off, presumably to the action of two other planets hitting the affected planet in the right locations and with the right amount of shearing force. The affected planet would also need to have the appropriate degree of elasticity, plasticity and cohesion.</p>
<p>Such a planet would have a significantly reduced gravity, no magnetic field, no volcanic activity and effectively no atmosphere. So a flat planet capable of supporting life and civilizations cannot exist.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-08T23:50:08.457Z
said planet would also collapse back into a sphere under its own gravity unless it was really really tiny, too small to be called a planet.
John
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-08T19:24:09.227Z
2024-07-08T19:24:09.227Z
Fred
<p><strong>TL/DR</strong></p>
<p><strong>NOPE!</strong></p>
<p>Me thinks you miss the point, entirely.  Given, if we accept that the earth is indeed flat, then by what explanation can we show that in orbiting earth we see the continuously varying view below of a surface presented as flat with no curvature, whatsoever? Further, that if the earth is flat, then by postulate the moon is also flat, as is the sun.  And for that matter, any spherical shape within the celestial realm, including the celestial sphere itself.  All flat!</p>
<p>So yes, a flat earth is remotely possible.  The one problem is that this hypothesis can be shown, by extension to everything else we see, as highly improbable.  A simple explanation for that improbability is its inconsistency with everything that can be observed where this same <em>flat earth</em> hypothesis should apply.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-08T17:08:25.390Z
**SE/SR†** Your quasi-rant doesn't answer the (hypothetical) question. †: short enough, should read
klanomath
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-09T08:44:42.423Z
@thomas perry not sure why you've opened with a 'tl/dr' I've tried to put the question as succinctly as I can. and what point of my own question have I missed 'entirely'?
Matt Bartlett
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-08T16:25:39.213Z
2024-07-08T16:25:39.213Z
Thomas Perry
<p>A prelude, I am not a flat Earther but is a flat earth even feasibly possible? If someone were able to take say a complete copy of the Earth and squash it flat what would be lost in the process? How would gravity ( if at all present) work? In which direction would you be pulled? If there was a central point of gravity (say near the 'centre' of this flat disk would it start to pull the outer edges (i.e the circumference of this new flash disk back in on its self so that eventually over time you'd end up with a sphere as most planetary bodies are. Without a distinct north and south pole would you have a magnetic field and without one how long would this flat disk survive before its heat blasted by solar radiation?</p>
<p>I suppose another way to frame the question is what 'features' of our planet (gravity, magnetic fields etc. exist solely because it is a sphere and not flat.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-09T06:24:18.540Z
Not a planet but have a look at Larry Niven's essay *Bigger than Worlds*, in particular the pie plate.
Ash
<models>
Is a flat Earth evenscientifically possible?
Matt Bartlett
# Is a flat Earth evenscientifically possible?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-07-08)

A prelude, I am not a flat Earther but is a flat earth even feasibly possible? If someone were able to take say a complete copy of the Earth and squash it flat what would be lost in the process? How would gravity ( if at all present) work? In which direction would you be pulled? If there was a central point of gravity (say near the 'centre' of this flat disk would it start to pull the outer edges (i.e the circumference of this new flash disk back in on its self so that eventually over time you'd end up with a sphere as most planetary bodies are. Without a distinct north and south pole would you have a magnetic field and without one how long would this flat disk survive before its heat blasted by solar radiation?

I suppose another way to frame the question is what 'features' of our planet (gravity, magnetic fields etc. exist solely because it is a sphere and not flat.

**Tags:** models

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Not a planet but have a look at Larry Niven's essay *Bigger than Worlds*, in particular the pie plate.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-07-08. Score: 2

Due to gravitation attraction [celestial bodies tend to be spherical](https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/47143/20231116/why-celestial-bodies-tend-spherical-unraveling-influence-gravity-space.htm). It's just the way cosmic material coalesces. Smaller bodies, such as asteroids can be odd shaped, similar to potatoes etc., but beyond a specific size the tendency is towards spherical bodies.

On SE Space Exploration, there is a question, [*Why are smaller celestial bodies like Ceres spherical?*](https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/9607/why-are-smaller-celestial-bodies-like-ceres-spherical), which has an answer.

For a flat planet to exist it would need to have the top and bottom sheared off, presumably to the action of two other planets hitting the affected planet in the right locations and with the right amount of shearing force. The affected planet would also need to have the appropriate degree of elasticity, plasticity and cohesion.

Such a planet would have a significantly reduced gravity, no magnetic field, no volcanic activity and effectively no atmosphere. So a flat planet capable of supporting life and civilizations cannot exist.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: said planet would also collapse back into a sphere under its own gravity unless it was really really tiny, too small to be called a planet.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2024-07-08. Score: -1

**TL/DR**

**NOPE!**

Me thinks you miss the point, entirely. Given, if we accept that the earth is indeed flat, then by what explanation can we show that in orbiting earth we see the continuously varying view below of a surface presented as flat with no curvature, whatsoever? Further, that if the earth is flat, then by postulate the moon is also flat, as is the sun. And for that matter, any spherical shape within the celestial realm, including the celestial sphere itself. All flat!

So yes, a flat earth is remotely possible. The one problem is that this hypothesis can be shown, by extension to everything else we see, as highly improbable. A simple explanation for that improbability is its inconsistency with everything that can be observed where this same *flat earth* hypothesis should apply.

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: **SE/SR†** Your quasi-rant doesn't answer the (hypothetical) question. †: short enough, should read  
> **username_0**: @username_4 username_4 not sure why you've opened with a 'tl/dr' I've tried to put the question as succinctly as I can. and what point of my own question have I missed 'entirely'?  

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