Synestia

About

Synestia takes its name from a hypothesized astronomical structure: a rapidly spinning, doughnut-shaped mass of vaporized rock created by planetary collisions. The term was coined in 2017 by Sarah T. Stewart-Mukhopadhyay, combining "syn-" meaning together with Hestia, the goddess of the hearth. Computer simulations show that synestias form when total angular momentum exceeds the co-rotational limit, resulting in an inner rotating region with a loosely connected orbiting torus beyond it.