Forgive a novice and her naive curiosity, but I was wondering about planetary orbit and the aging of planets.
As a planet ages, does its transit around its sun/star decrease or increase in speed?
Does the speed and proximity of a planet's orbit around the star, have more to do with the age and type of the star, and less to do with the age of the planet and its distance from the star?
Also, is it possible for a planet to be pushed or pulled closer to its star, into a closer orbit, for example by increased gravitational pull of the star, or the planet being knocked off orbit by a comet or asteroid, or even a shockwave from an implosion -- one far enough away so that no debris comes near, but near enough that the shockwave is powerful enough to knock the planet.
I realise such an occurance would probably cause catastrophic upset on the planet, but if it remained relatively intact, could it find itself on a new path around its star??
Or could the comet/asteroid/shockwave hit the planet from the opposite direction of its transit, perhaps glancing it at such an angle as to cause it to slow in pace around the star, or to turn faster or slower on its own axis?
And would its poles be reversed?
Living in a world with sci-fi like Doctor Who, Eureka, Stargate, Star Trek, X-files, Fringe.. it makes you wonder what is theoretically possible. Often the explanations they give sound far-fetched, yet plausible. Just as every myth evolves from a truth, you tend to wonder how much truth exists within these stories.
Hope one of you can shine a light on my wonderings and find a kernel of truth among them.