Mesklin

Mesklin is 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 gradient in the perceived force of gravity from 3 g on the equator to 665 g on the planet's poles. Overview The planet first appeared in the novel Mission of Gravity, 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.