On Fri, Aug 26, 2016 at 09:09:11AM -0700, C. Berry wrote:
>    Odds are very good that this planet is tidally locked. So climate zones
>    would work very differently from how they do on a rotating planet.
>    You'd need a thick atmosphere to provide enough heat circulation to
>    keep all the air from freezing out on the permanent night side. On
>    Proxima b, I'd expect the nicest temperatures and any extensive liquid
>    water to be in the center of the day side.
>

Can someone elaborate on why the odds are good that this planet is tidally
locked? Assume I understand a little about how tidal locking works[1]. I'm asking
because if most singleton planets are tidally locked to their
primaries then would you not have better chances of finding an
earth-like experience on a gas giant moon?

[1] I assume the mechanism behind tidal locking is that under
gravitational stress, the world stops being a sphere and becomes more
of an ovoid. Over millions of years, gravity on the lobes of the ovoid
exerts a torque which slows or speeds up the rotation of the world
until it matches the period with which it orbits it's primary.