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Normally in sun-like planetary systems, there are small rocky planets around the habitable zone or closer and gas giants beyond the frost line. Typically these gas giants later migrate inwards due to a type 2 migration.

And in our solar system, the moons orbiting these giants are engulfed by a deep frozen Ocean, a.k.a. they seem to bear too much water for life. Apart from Jupiter's Io which has a terrestrial surface, maybe due to its high geological activity. I assume that is because water is lighter than metals and silicates. And because of that it tends to move outside.

My goal is to have a gas giant and natural satellites which are ready to be terraformed and then develop their own stable water-based and terrestrial ecosystems due to this process.

I was thinking of the following setup

  • Star: G-type with 1 solar mass
  • Gas giant or cool Brown Dwarf with 10 Jupiter masses, orbiting the star in a semi major axis of 3 AU
  • This gas planet/failed star has multiple moons from 0.6 to 1.5 Earth masses

My Question is then: Could there be a system where the star is still sun-like, but this over-abundance of water is not there, or more towards the outer edge of the solar system? So that a potential human-like civilization arriving and terraforming these moons still can have the land-based way of life they are used to?

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  • $\begingroup$ Are you asking "can there be mostly-rocky bodies with only trace water at 3AU?" or "is a super-Jupiter with multiple earth-mass moons at 3AU from a sun-mass star plausible?" or "if such moons existed would they be plausible candidates for terraforming?" Or perhaps just "I want a gas giant with a human-habitable moon. Could such a thing exist in reality, and how?" $\endgroup$
    – g s
    Commented Apr 29 at 7:49
  • $\begingroup$ The first one you mentioned is best for now $\endgroup$
    – Ben
    Commented Apr 29 at 13:52

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Of course, there is a multitude of scenarios possible

In the vast space there are billions of stars and planets formed and it is in no way guaranteed that every one of them has water as our solar system does. Maybe even on the contrary, because water is associated with life and we did not yet found any alien life, maybe there is a lack of water overall in the universe. Who knows.

Consider the following scenarios to explain a lack of water for example:

  • the accretion disk when forming the solar-system had little water in the first place (You don't need life on any planet or moon in that system, do you?)

  • most of the water was vaporized instead of accumulated on a planet. The water vapor reached the outer rim of the solar system where it was frozen again, forming something like our Kuiper belt or Oort Cloud.

  • it is assumed the water in our solar-system came from comets impacting earth. Your solar-system can have a lack of those comets.

  • there is another planet in the system which accumulated all the water, thus leaving any other planet and moon dry

  • there was water on the moons once, but heat from the sun melted it and it vaporized away (like on Venus or Mars for example; moons generally are not able to hold an atmosphere)

  • there is water on the moon, but it is frozen at the poles or lives underground so it does not get in the way

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