What would a rough estimate of the global climate of an earth be like if lit by a geosynchronous ring instead of a point source?

Question

Welcome to fantasy earth: like Earth in all the same ways, with the exception that the sun you know has been replaced with a ring you don't.

What would the climate of Earth be if the sun was replaced with a ring ("magic", for however much it's functioning matters) with the following properties:

• In geosynchronous (not geostationary!) orbit, at 35.800 km-ish height, and so taking 24 hours to orbit fantasy earth.

• Orbiting at an inclination of 24 degrees.

• Infinitely thin (like I said, magic). Imagine a string wrapped around the Earth and you'll get the idea. This infinitely thin part is flavor, more than anything else. It's a single magic loop of infinitely thin yarn outputting a magical amount of light around the planet.

• Radiating light at about 0.007 the degree of brightness of the sun, with the same electromagnetic output of the sun, both in respect of what wavelengths are produced, as well as the irradiance that any individual area experiences, within the range of what's currently experienced by Earth.

Notes:

• I'm assuming that from the perspective of the Earth's surface, the ring would move in a figure 8 pattern, with the net result being a ring weaving around it throughout the day

• Half of the northern and southern hemispheres would likely experience night, and half day at the same time—what impact that would have on the climate, I don't know.

• I'm assuming that some latitudes would experience a steady degree of irradiance, and so result in more static climate zones, but I'm not 100% certain regarding such things.

Addendum: a very rough estimate is fine, no extensive modeling is required, vibes will suffice.

Answer 1

There are numerous immediate and obvious differences that I can think of, mostly describing plant life, weather, and geology. I have to admit that my imagination only extends to things that such a model would eliminate from our current system.

I'm sure that everyone here can tell you about Hadley cells, and how the rotation of the earth creates high-altitude warm currents from the equator up to about 30 degrees. That would still happen, but to a lesser extent.

You won't see the massive heat pump of heat-expanded air driving wind currents around the planet, so there would be less overall wind. The plants would be more spindly because gusts that could knock them down would be once-in-a-lifetime events.

It occurs to me that, due to consistent heating, there would probably be places on the planet that it rained constantly due to prevailing winds running into mountains creating a watershed. These rainy areas would probably dig furrows through mountains the same way that rivers make oxbows in our world.

You won't see the day/night cycle raising temperatures in the day, then dumping water when the temperature drops below the dew point. Thus, much, much less precipitation, which means less erosion wearing mountains down into arable soil and fewer, narrower rivers. Maybe more of the plants would draw water from the air like tillandsia.

Right now, many plants will twist to follow the sun, getting the most out of the light. If it's always in the same direction (like in the temperate zones), then much of the vegetation would create a vertical wall of leaves pointing towards the equator. Equatorial plants might have a little phototropism, but that would be up to evolution.

Since you have consistent illumination, you will no longer have seasons. Most Earth plants use this to trigger their growth/reproduction cycles, so you'd have to think of something else.