Questions tagged [atmosphere]
For questions about the gases which surround a planet or some other celestial body.
663
questions
2
votes
3
answers
143
views
Would this atmosphere require humans to wear gas masks but perhaps get acclimated over time?
I got some great feedback on this atmosphere already, so I decided to lower the oxygen levels as a result of the feedback.
I am creating an atmosphere for a planet in a science fiction book I am ...
- 115
9
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Is this a breathable atmosphere for human-like aliens that have more efficient oxygen-carrying blood? Normal humans would require a gas mask (oxygen)
I am creating an atmosphere for a planet in a science fiction book I am writing and want to make sure that this atmosphere is not too outlandish in regards to sustaining life. I know the oxygen ...
- 115
2
votes
5
answers
133
views
Can my planet carry heat effectively from one side to another?
I'm designing an Earth-like planet orbiting around a K5V star in the habitable zone (the planet is at a distance of 0.41 AU).
The star has a mass of 0.70 M and a surface temperature of 4,526 Kelvin.
...
- 1,471
0
votes
3
answers
80
views
Argon instead of nitrogen
I read through https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argon it says that argon can be used in doping. If humans have to settle down on a planet, that has the nitrogen of earth swapped for argon, can they ...
- 323
0
votes
2
answers
27
views
Solution to Ozone depletion-Stratospheric injection?
In the mid-2020s scientists have realized that although the ozone layer is recovering, it is only doing so at an alarming slow rate. So they come up with an solution.
Many titanium tanks are put in a ...
-1
votes
0
answers
35
views
My planet's atmosphere
The planet I am making is a super Earth,a celestial body slightly larger than Earth, but not big enough to be considered a gas or ice giant.>
The atmosphere is the most important so here it is:
...
- 447
4
votes
1
answer
110
views
How to calculate temperatures on my world given different pressures and altitudes
The fictional world is Earth-like with 1g gravity and similar solar radiation to Earth but the inhabitants only live on very high plateaus at around 5000m where the pressure is already 3bar. How do I ...
- 33.2k
5
votes
1
answer
77
views
How would differing gravity and atmosphere density affect aircraft?
I'm working on a story that involves a lot of interdimensional travel, but I know little to nothing about building the physics of entire planets. All I know about this one particular planet is that ...
- 149
4
votes
3
answers
150
views
How could we introduce nitrogen (N2) into Mars atmosphere?
One of the most significant challenges in terraforming Mars is its atmosphere lacking volume. Its pressure is less than 1% of Earth's atmosphere, and 95% of it is Carbon Dioxide (CO2). In contrast, ...
1
vote
1
answer
47
views
Could a substantial atmosphere protect a large moon from radiation belts like those seen in Jupiter's magnetosphere?
I'm imagining a moon with a mass of 0.25M (so 10 times larger than Ganymede), in Ganymede's position orbiting a gas giant like Jupiter. Maybe the atmosphere is anywhere from 0.1 - 1 bar. Would the ...
- 695
5
votes
1
answer
83
views
Are there any atmospheric properties that might make iridescent clouds more common on a different planet?
I'm designing a few planets and the life that could inhabit them, and was wondering if an uncommon Earth phenomenon like iridescent clouds might be more common on a planet under different conditions. ...
- 695
2
votes
1
answer
270
views
How plausible is my alien world? Atmospheric Content
The theoretical world of Hēdran is the 2nd planet of a 7 planet system. It lies within its star' s (G1.4) habitable zone, but with a hot jupiter gas giant only ~1 AU away it experiences heavy ...
- 295
2
votes
2
answers
77
views
How plausible is my alien world? Effects of acidification
The theoretical world of Hēdran is the 2nd planet of a 7 planet system. It lies within its star' s (a G1.4) habitable zone, but with a hot jupiter gas giant only ~1 AU away it experiences heavy ...
- 295
2
votes
2
answers
182
views
What would make an atmosphere green?
I am making a space sci-fi film. And the planet that it takes place on the sky is green (like how ours is blue). The air can be toxic but it need to be able to explode if oxygen is introduced in to it....
4
votes
1
answer
92
views
What is mathematical formula for finding the mean surface temperature on a planet in our solar system?
This question is to assume the common solar luminosity of approx $4 \times 10^{26}$ Watts.
The mean flux of Earth at, for example, 1.1 AU would be about 1176 watts--but how can I calculate mean ...
- 135
0
votes
1
answer
85
views
Atmosphere of a Carbon Planet. Are there flaws in my system?
My spec-bio project involves the idea of life evolving on a (Carbon?) Planet, rich with metals (Platinum, Chromium, Etc...) and pre-existing hydrocarbons. Basically life would have to evolve on an ...
- 295
2
votes
3
answers
121
views
Let's have a planetary greenhouse effect only in winter?
Suppose there's zillions of tons of CO2 in the atmosphere of a planet and summer temperatures become unbearable. The amount of CO2 is so big it cannot be removed anymore, or it would become an endless ...
- 13.2k
4
votes
3
answers
130
views
Could a planet with lower atmospheric nitrogen be habitable?
I'm designing a lower gravity planet that I want to stay relatively warm despite having less atmosphere. My solution to this is to increase relative the amount of greenhouse gas, so this planet's ...
- 695
2
votes
1
answer
92
views
How plausible is an alive atmosphere? [duplicate]
We know there are microorganisms living some good kms above our heads --- bacteria, fungi, even algae were detected in meteorological samples. What if the unstable mixing of gases that happens in the ...
- 83
0
votes
1
answer
49
views
How to calculate greenhouse effect for planet as well as for the atmosphere?
I recently found a calculation on how to calculate the greenhouse effect for Earth from another question here, but I couldn't make heads or tails of the calculations that were provided in one of the ...
- 65
7
votes
3
answers
121
views
How would increasing or decreasing atmospheric pressure affect the amount of precipitation over a planet?
I'm designing planets of varying atmospheric pressures. How would increasing (or decreasing) global atmospheric pressure affect the amount/frequency of precipitation over a planet?
- 695
2
votes
2
answers
108
views
Would my world have the environment that I planned for it?
The world where my stories will take place is a moon oribiting a gas giant along with many other barren moons. I envisioned it to have a generally tropical/subtropical climate, with plenty of ...
- 1,092
-4
votes
2
answers
95
views
What would be the consequences of no-void but atmosphere in space? [closed]
I was recently wondering about atmosphere in space.
I remember having that talk before with a friend, with one conclusion - that it would force day in space because of the light bouncing off air ...
2
votes
0
answers
46
views
How do I make my planet dimly lit but still habitable? [duplicate]
Currently I am making a solar system for a speculative evolution project, and I wanted my habitable planet to be really dark, while still being habitable (Preferably slightly colder of warmer then ...
- 569
0
votes
2
answers
114
views
How would higher oxygen content affect engine and fuels?
If oxygen %age of atmosphere was raised to i) 25% . ii) 30% . iii) 35%
How much would it affect the power output/fuel efficiency of current engines?
Engines being 1) Petrol Engines . 2) Diesel Engines ...
- 688
4
votes
1
answer
118
views
Size cap of vertebrate fliers on "Flyers' World" (10atm, 0.5g)
On Earth, unlike what's often claimed, the largest current flying birds don't approach the size limit for flight with Earthly biology. Quetzalcoatlus might be getting close to the limit, though. A big ...
- 5,449
5
votes
4
answers
548
views
Colour of the sky on a moon with an thin artificial atmosphere
On a moon with an thin artificial atmosphere (think force field filled with Earth-like atmosphere), would the sky be a blue colour or have a blue tinge, or would the thinner layer of atmosphere (about ...
- 187
5
votes
4
answers
200
views
Are “carbon-based lifeforms” limited to inhaling O2 and exhaling CO2?
If there happened to be extremely radical conditions causing extremely unique evolutionary results, could a carbon-based lifeform hypothetically “drop” oxygen and carbon-dioxide in favor of an ...
- 159
3
votes
4
answers
135
views
Can a planet with variable gravity have constant atmospheric pressure over the surface
This earth has roughly three to five times the radius and ten to twelve times the surface area of our earth
And it lies in the center of toroidal planet (their equatorial planes line up perfectly). ...
- 688
8
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Does atmospheric pressure relate to altitude or sea level, what would happen if sea level rose, but the land was not submerged?
Preface: I am new to the forum so apologies if everything is not in the exact required format.
I know that the higher above sea level you go the atmospheric pressure decreases and the inverse is true ...
- 467
4
votes
5
answers
3k
views
If a small marble reached Planck temperature, would the heat spread and ignite the atmosphere? [closed]
It can be set to any temperature at the command of the wielder, be it as high as the Planck temperature or as low as absolute zero.
I want to see whether or not it could be used to end the planet it ...
- 260
12
votes
6
answers
3k
views
How can I make an earthlike planet windier?
Imagine a planet like earth, but windier. Not pick-up-a-house-and-drop-it-on-a-witch windy; let's say just give-trees-a-hard-time windy.
I'd like "high winds" (defined by the United States ...
- 970
0
votes
1
answer
85
views
What is the minimum strength that my forcefield needs to have to keep various atmospheres with a difference of 13% in total pressure?
I’m designing an alien world, which functions as a nature preserve for some extremely powerful aliens. I haven’t worked out the specific size, distance from the sun etc. yet, but I have already ...
- 13
2
votes
2
answers
118
views
How can we make a dense atmosphere allowing floaters, that would be toxic for humans to breathe?
I think that balloon aliens are an interesting alien body plan. It is something practically never seen on earth and the only lifeforms I’m aware of that do anything similar are kelp that have tiny ...
- 2,063
3
votes
4
answers
148
views
How might a lower gravity planet sustain a warm, earth-like atmosphere?
I've already posted something similar recently, but I don't think I was really asking the right question. I'm designing a hypothetical lower-gravity planet with 0.47M, 0.79r and 0.76g, with a similar ...
- 695
2
votes
2
answers
153
views
If Earth was less massive, with 25% less gravity and an atmosphere scaled down proportionately, how would that affect climate?
Everything else being equal, how would reduced planetary mass and gravity affect the behavior of the atmosphere and the climate?
- 695
28
votes
14
answers
6k
views
How can we make an alien atmosphere breathable, but uncomfortable?
In the project I’m working on, sufficiently advanced aliens terraformed a large number of planets in the distant past, giving them an atmospheric pressure and composition similar to Earth. This “...
- 291
0
votes
4
answers
207
views
Could a planet be cut in half and still sustain life? [closed]
Say some sort of anti-planet weapon shoots an arc of energy slicing the planet in 2, could the said planet keep it’s atmosphere and life.
6
votes
1
answer
133
views
Exoplanet sky with suspended ice crystals
I'm envisioning a planet around a sunlike star, with gravity and temperature similar to Mars, but covered with a thin shell of water ice (with CO2 ice at the poles). The atmosphere's pressure and ...
- 4,157
1
vote
2
answers
109
views
Could a planetary disk create a shared atmosphere?
So essentially, we have a protoplanetary disk filled with asteroids ranging from boulders to 30km long. Could they sustain a breathable atmosphere for humans, or would there have to be oxygen tanks ...
1
vote
2
answers
146
views
What would be the optimal atmosphere for Earth's life and humanity?
Question
Obviously Earth's atmosphere is just fine for life it, but is there a possibility of one composed of gases that would make life have an easier time living? If yes, what would it consist of?
...
- 65
1
vote
2
answers
191
views
Is this an accurate environment for life on a super Earth speculatively?
My alien planet is a super Earth. It revolves around a K-type star in the habitable zone and has a lower gravity. The mass is that of 2 Earths(or how ever superearths mass normally are).The atmosphere ...
- 447
3
votes
2
answers
111
views
What atmospheric pressure and temperature are reasonable to maintain water on a low gravity planet?
I'm designing a low gravity planet, and I want it to be as realistic as possible. I've calculated the lowest mass and radius it could have while maintaining a similar density to Earth and while still ...
- 695
2
votes
3
answers
111
views
Is the following rogue planet's atmosphere setup possible?
This is part of a series of question.
Context: For a story, we would like a rogue planet to have certain characteristics. I hesitated to split the question by characteristics, but unfortunately they ...
- 1,184
12
votes
9
answers
3k
views
Can a forest provide enough oxygen to breathe on a low oxygen planet?
A person is placed into the middle of a forest on an alien planet. The planet is to be considered Earth equivalent in all respects (mass, size, atmospheric pressure, etc.) except atmospheric ...
- 2,432
4
votes
2
answers
126
views
For a planet with a given equilibrium temperature, what is the maximum pressure possible?
I've been working on trying to calculate atmospheres for a given equilibrium temperature $T_{eq}$ planetary mass $M_{planet}$ and radius $r_{planet}$, how would you calculate the maximum possible ...
- 101
16
votes
5
answers
3k
views
How could a planet logically have green clouds but still be habitable?
I am working on a game currently with some predetermined assets, and one of the areas I am developing takes place on a mountainous, lush jungle planet with low-hanging green clouds and a general green ...
- 336
5
votes
3
answers
219
views
What chemicals would an atmosphere unbreathable by humans (yet allowing alien life to thrive) contain?
(first question, hi!) At the moment, I am trying to bring a planet which contains an atmosphere that can barely be breathed by humans (14% oxygen to be precise), to life. This planet is abundant with ...
- 59
-5
votes
1
answer
126
views
Do we have a solution if oxygen runs out [closed]
I'm not a scientist but I know at the moment we don't have a huge amount of Oxygen in our atmosphere but what would happened if the Ozone layer was broken and all the oxygen escaped how could we ...
user95326
3
votes
2
answers
186
views
How could I make an ion engine work within an atmosphere?
I’m trying to think of a way to explain how the ion engines in Star Wars ships are able to work within an atmosphere. Ion engines can only work in a vacuum, and don’t have the proper thrust to take ...
- 869