Questions tagged [atmosphere]
For questions about the gases which surround a planet or some other celestial body.
429
questions
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How might an exoplanet have a highly radioactive atmosphere?
The exoplanet in question is Proxima Centauri b. How might the mid-to-upper-level atmosphere of that planet be dangerously radioactive and full of airborne nuclear reagents, without it being the ...
51
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3answers
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Could dinosaurs breathe modern air?
During much of the Cretaceous period, oxygen levels were substantially higher than they are currently, with estimates indicating that around 30% of the atmosphere consisted of oxygen. Obviously, this ...
6
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2answers
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Tall trees : atmospheric pressure
In my previous post, I asked about how tall trees could grow in my world. To be honest, I really need those trees to be huge for my storie, because a big part of the plot will be linked to those big ...
5
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1answer
64 views
Life-supporting climate for an organolithium planetary environment?
I'm looking to design one of my warring planets around organolithium chemistry with seas and precipitate primarily composed of a clear organolithium solvent liquid - possibly ammonia. I've searched ...
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6answers
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'Nuke the sky' to make a rocket launch a tiny bit easier
My aliens want to build the heaviest chemical rocket possible: They never were much into space travel, since their planets' gravity is about 1.5 of ours. They made lots of bad experiences fighting ...
18
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4answers
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Could you fly a Boeing 747 on Venus?
I have been making a future colonization scenario where people have vast colonies on Mars and cloud top bases on Venus. These things are unbelievably large. I've already thought of a way to travel ...
3
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3answers
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What's a plausible reason for a bacteria/disease to only exist near the surface of a planet?
Context: Humans have escaped a a super-bacteria, similar in situation to the Bubonic Plague, that they could not create a cure for. They've done this by engineering gargantuan trees and adapting to ...
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2answers
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What would happens if global warming cause enough atmosphere loss?
What would happens if due to increased volume and reduced density, the global warming cause consistent loss into space of certain gases of atmosphere? What would we observe?
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8answers
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What would it take to slow down fermentation? (Specific: Wine / grape juice)
I am working on a story about a person who was raised on an earth-like planet and later moves to our earth. The planet he is from specializes in fruit juice and alcohol making, in specific, wine. When ...
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2answers
107 views
In what ways a higher level of oxygen (23 to 25%) and higher pressure (1,7 time the earth air density) would affect winds and ocean currents?
From some research, I have learned that atmospheric circulation - winds currents and ocean currents - depend on pressure and the Coriolis effect. But if the oxygen level is increased and the pressure ...
3
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1answer
87 views
What could cause Fluorocarbons to be present in an Earth-like atmosphere?
Pretty simple (in theory that is) question for one of my worlds. I heard carbon fluorides are intense greenhouse gases but otherwise harmless and didn't lead to large issues (atleast none that I could ...
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6answers
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Can a Sunset Be Black (Infrared)?
Fact 1: The cause of a sunset is from the angle of the sunlight, because the amount of scattering increases as the light passes through more and more of the atmosphere.
Fact 2: Higher frequency / ...
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vote
2answers
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Would lots of hydrogen in a atmosphere cause Fire Storm [duplicate]
Basically Group A Breaths in water and out Hydrogen, Group B in Hydrogen and out water like us and trees but water and hydrogen instead of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Would the hydrogen in the ...
4
votes
1answer
149 views
Making a planet with high humidity
I'm making a Region of a planet with very high humidity, mostly covered in fog at ground level. I am open to having seasonal changes and would like there to be a few sunny days lets say 1 out of 15, ...
6
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1answer
104 views
How to calculate atmospheric circulation cells
Does anyone know an equation or something along those lines for calculating how many and the locations of atmospheric circulation cells for a planet?
Also, does the planet's radius and atmospheric ...
4
votes
4answers
158 views
How big an area can we possibly make habitable on the moon?
This question focuses on an artificial atmosphere on the moon and the achieved amount being the limiting factor for the size of habitats.
I got a lot of beef for the suggestion to terraform the whole ...
3
votes
2answers
251 views
What would the temperatures on a terraformed moon be like?
In the far future the moon is terraformed and maintains earth-like conditions for people to walk around freely. Gravity is a 6th of earth's. We assume the atmosphere is "well-functioning for human ...
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vote
1answer
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Imagine a well functioning atmosphere on the terraformed moon
Just assume we are long into the future, all other parameters have been met and we have the technology, will and money to terraform our moon and keep it so.
Atmosphere, as commonly agreed on, would ...
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6answers
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What is the maximum viable speed for a projectile within earth's atmosphere?
Assume a projectile,
made of a very heat-resistant and durable material (something like tungsten), formed like a modern saboted tank cannon shot.
If tungsten, like suggested, is not ideal, you can ...
7
votes
1answer
80 views
How would the atmospheric circulation look like on a planet with high axial tilt?
Assume an Earth-Clone, that has an axial tilt of 90°. How would the circulation of the atmosphere look like? Would there still be three convection cells?
6
votes
2answers
159 views
A semi perpetual gloomy climate is possible?
I'd like to know if a climate with snowy and gloomy winters and rainy and cloudy summers is possible. Because the climate of Russia in summer is sunny enough and the Icelandic ones isn't so snowy. So ...
0
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1answer
67 views
Gravity on the terraformed moon and its inventions [closed]
[Edited version]
In this long-into-the-future scenario the Moon has been successfully terraformed, along with other moons in our solar system. Let's just assume economics, AI and human will have made ...
20
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6answers
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What is my breathable atmosphere composed of?
This planet's atmosphere has oxygen at a partial pressure that is breathable to humans, and the rest of the atmosphere is, at least, not made up primarily of Nitrogen (that is, it's not just Earth's ...
5
votes
1answer
57 views
Changing air composition on another planet
Hypothetically speaking, if we would find another planet, the size of Earth, with atmosphere as dense as Earth's atmosphere is, and we would insert (in some hypothetical way) nitrogen, oxygen and CO2 ...
7
votes
3answers
135 views
Can my planet have a very thin atmosphere only at the poles?
While thinking about Starfish Prime's answer to the question Algae using UV light from auroras for photosynthesis, I considered the possibility of an alternate Earth which has a normal, Earth-like ...
3
votes
2answers
100 views
Effects of Ammonia
This is a continuation of a question I made earlier!
The atmosphere consists of 80% N2, 17% O2, 1% CO2, 1% NH3. I am not extremely familiar with the chemistry of ammonia, but I do know that it ...
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vote
2answers
106 views
Interesting Atmosphere Chemicals
I am currently working on world-building a planet, and I wanted to try to diverge from Earth's atmosphere a little bit, but not extremely. I am planning on still having it be a oxygen-nitrogen rich ...
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0answers
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What atmospheric changes could make water purple? [duplicate]
I'm writing a story based on another planet and would like for the water to be purple instead of blue, but I don't know if an atmosphere that would allow that would be safe for humans to breathe in.
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3answers
290 views
What gases could be present in a viable atmosphere for humans?
I'm working on a story involving humans looking for another habitable planet, and I have been scouring the net for days, finding lots of info on varying levels of oxygen and nitrogen, but none that ...
7
votes
4answers
234 views
Is this atmospheric composition breathable on a planet with 50% more surface pressure?
I've read all the related questions on here and as far as I can tell this should be breathable on my planet Liskuel, which has 1.5 bars of pressure. However, I'm really bad at maths and don't really ...
19
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0answers
401 views
Plausibility of helium dominated atmospheres on super-Earths
I've been using this helpful diagram a lot for worldbuilding.
Now I came to think about the fact that helium is more massive than hydrogen, thus a scenario where hydrogen escapes, but helium is ...
0
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2answers
124 views
The Effect of Gas Diffusion on Life
Let's say world is completely flat (infinite flat world, think minecraft flatworlds) for the purposes of the question. The gasses of the world started out in a grid pattern, with each square being ...
2
votes
1answer
81 views
Reality check- atmospheric percentages, gravity, mass, and pressure [closed]
What would changing these qualities do to an earth-like world?
Would humans and other earth-like life be able to survive, and what effects would this have on them?
And what modifications would need to ...
4
votes
4answers
100 views
Requirements for melting snow from orbit using EM radiation
My (your) goal is to melt several tons of snow and ice in a small area using electromagnetic radiation beamed down from a spacecraft in orbit. The atmosphere that's in the way is vaguely Earth-like ...
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4answers
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World of (nearly) identical snowflakes
In a lab at Caltech Ken Libbrecht has been simulating snowflake formation and under absurdly exact laboratory conditions, they have been able to create almost identical snowflakes.
Clearly, in the ...
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5answers
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Could a singular planet have more than one diverse atmosphere?
I'm making a world which is set on a planet with two smaller "bubbles" of atmosphere at the poles, and a more stereotypical atmosphere that surrounds them. Each of the three atmospheres has a ...
6
votes
2answers
120 views
How to roughly extrapolate artillery range for planets with different atmospheric pressure?
I'm looking for some rough way of extrapolating artillery range for planets with different atmospheric pressure:
Realistically, the data available:
Hypothetical range in vacuum: $\dfrac{V^2}{g}$ (V -...
5
votes
0answers
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Relationship between Ocean Gases and Atmospheric Gases [closed]
A version of this question is posted in Chemistry SE but doesn't seem to be getting traction there. Perhaps this SE is a bette place for this question? If you think it belongs on a different SE please ...
5
votes
1answer
199 views
What effects would a massive amount of water vapor in the atmosphere have on an alien planet
I am an aspiring science-fiction novelist. I am experimenting with a world I’m trying to create and I wanted a couple of expert opinions on Atmospheric composition;
53% Nitrogen
27% Oxygen
3% Xenon
...
10
votes
1answer
160 views
Would A Biological “Cold Haber” Process Deplete an H2/N2 World of its H2 or N2?
Based on my reading on some science papers, large, wet terrestrial planets likely exist that are swathed in a thin atmosphere of nitrogen/hydrogen ($H_2$ & $N_2$). If life evolved on such worlds, ...
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2answers
186 views
Designing rugged bush plane to work on a planet with 3 atmosphere pressure
For practical purposes I think about something in line of Cessna 172. As it was the most produced aircraft, then it must have hit some sweet spot or be near it.
atmosphere with barely noticeably ...
6
votes
1answer
187 views
Is it possible to have a planet with earth-like mass but double the atmospheric pressure?
I'm no scientist and my poor brain box is on its last legs; I was wondering if any of you smart beans out there would be able to help me figure this out? Here are the specs of my system;
Kereiol is a ...
6
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1answer
140 views
In what ways would the earth's orbit/atmosphere/ocean currents have to be different in order to create summer with long nights?
As far as I know, summer and winter are governed by the amount of sunlight absorbed per unit area, where longer days would increase the temperature along with a higher sun angle.
To elaborate on the ...
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2answers
281 views
Thunderstorms, 24/7
There are a number of places in which cumulonimbus clouds - and therefore, thunderstorms - are likely to form, such as:
Cold fronts, where masses of cold air move into hot, moist air masses
Around ...
5
votes
2answers
205 views
How to figure out layers of the atmosphere?
Earth's atmosphere, as you probably know, is divided into five layers - the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth#...
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1answer
170 views
Would conventional explosives work differently under denser atmosphere?
Would conventional explosives work differently under denser atmosphere? (If yes in any noticeable way, then how to roughly calculate the difference)
Possible clarifications:
normal, conventional ...
3
votes
1answer
95 views
What frequency range would be ideal for audible communication on a planet with a thick atmosphere? [closed]
If you lived on a planet with a very thick atmosphere, and you communicated verbally, what frequency range would be best? What would you eventually evolve to?
Would their voices need to be high ...
7
votes
2answers
310 views
What levels of Argon and Neon (along with other factors) are needed to make the entire sky orange and sustainable for life?
I've read several sites and even questions on here where the sky would appear almost white or light blue if it orbited an orange dwarf star. However, that is if the planet has the same atmosphere as ...
0
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1answer
81 views
Could a city of balloons provide its own static electricity? [closed]
In the question: Could a city be built out of Balloons? it asks whether such a city could exist. I would like to know how much electricity (static electricity) could be gathered from the balloons ...
4
votes
4answers
324 views
A weapon to rapidly change the Earth's atmosphere
I am seeking information and ideas from all you clever people.
What I am trying to imagine is a chemical reaction that would change Earths atmosphere rapidly into something else which would be more ...
