Questions tagged [gas-giants]
For questions relating to gas giants: large planets composed of gases (usually mostly hydrogen and helium).
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1answer
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How to explain planetary rings pulsating?
A spacecraft enters an unnamed system and spotted a gas giant with a pulsating planetary ring, it glows bright intermittently. What natural phenomenon could be responsible for such brilliant display? ...
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2answers
130 views
Temperature and climate “under” the gas giant in a tidally locked moon
I've begun the laborious (but fun!) process of putting another world together.
Known constraints include:
Habitable, (super-)Earth-sized, tidally-locked moon to a gas giant; the giant, where visible,...
7
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3answers
721 views
Life on a gas giant?
I know of the conceptualized "Sinkers", "Floaters" and "Hunters" that Carl Sagan and Edwin Salpeter of Cornell conceived of - as possible life forms that might inhabit a gas giant. At the time they ...
3
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1answer
107 views
Could this moon of a gas giant orbiting a neutron star support life?
Making the following assumptions:
1. The three moons of the Gas Giant are safe enough distances from and massive enough not to pull each other apart or send themselves careening into the void.
2. ...
4
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2answers
93 views
What are some plausible formation explanations of a non-hot “Fluffy” Gas Giant planet?
So, in my research and preparation for the question I asked immediately before this one, I was introduced to the concept of "fluffy" gas giants, gas giants with significantly lower density than would ...
3
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1answer
342 views
Feasible star + planet + moon combo? Did I miss anything that makes this system wildly unstable or otherwise impossible?
Here's what I've come up with:
The star:
A main sequence star, roughly a sol analogue
Younger than Sol (say 3-3.5 billion years old)
roughly the same starting mass as Sol, but has had less time to ...
8
votes
3answers
393 views
What is the maximum orbital time for my moon around my planet?
I fear the math involved is beyond my capabilities on this one. I have what I consider to be more than a Layman's understanding of the physics involved, and I believe I can follow the math well ...
7
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3answers
175 views
Are there any plausible 'alternative' methods of planetary formation?
The selected answer on this question provides an extremely good, and detailed, description of what is generally accepted to be the main (only?) way a terrestrial planet can form, i.e. through ...
9
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1answer
222 views
What kind of Gas Giant has a “safe zone” between the radiation from a star and the radiation from a gas giant planet?
This is a progression from my first question, here
(if this is too similar to my original question, please let me know of a better way to address this, as I am not getting the answers I need on that ...
13
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1answer
380 views
Can a habitable moon rely on the magnetosphere of its parent planet for radiation protection?
Science-based answers, please.
Key points:
the main concern is radiation protection for sustainability of human life (and accompanying plant and animal life ecosystems, whether earth-like or not). ...
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2answers
133 views
Added Difficulties of Space Flight on Gas Giant Moons?
What additional difficulties might the inhabitants of a gas giant moon face when attempting to launch spacecraft beyond their moon's orbit, especially beyond the planetary system? I presume that they'...
2
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1answer
193 views
What would be the composition of a habitable gas giant
Lets imagine a gas giant called Eurus.
It would have a diameter a bit smaller than saturn, but a gravity weaker than earth (92% earth's gravity). It would also be located 15 000 000 km away from its ...
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1answer
96 views
Calculating Radiation Zones of Gas Giants and the Effects on Its Moons? [closed]
How would I determine the radiation fields, if any, of a gas giant planet? What effect would this have on its moons if they have magnetic fields like the Earth does, and are inhabited?
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1answer
72 views
Calculating The Albedo of a Gas Giant With Earth-Like Moon(s) [closed]
How can you determine how bright a gas giant would be, especially if it has inhabited moons with an Earth-like atmosphere?
0
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2answers
121 views
How Large Would A Gas Giant Appear To Be To The Inhabitants Of An Earth-like Moon Orbiting it? [duplicate]
How large would a gas giant realistically appear to be on an Earth-like moon? I think a movie or two has portrayed them as very large, but that's an exaggeration, right? Depending on the size and ...
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1answer
128 views
Would An Earth-Like Moon Be Tidally Locked? [duplicate]
Could a moon of similar size to the Earth orbiting a gas giant be tidally locked compared to its host planet? What effect would that have on the moon, especially the biosphere?
9
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2answers
283 views
How do I design the solar transit of a hot Jupiter?
BACKGROUND
The world I'm designing currently has a gas giant of the type known as a hot Jupiter orbiting close to the sun and causing solar flares. I would like the inhabitants of my Earth-like world ...
1
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2answers
165 views
Is this gas giant possible?
I want to create a gas giant planet. The parameters I would like for it to have are:
It should have a large layer of gas within its atmosphere that living creatures including humans can survive and ...
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7answers
6k views
Could you float a boat on a gas giant?
A futuristic entrepreneur wants to start a cruise line company and needs to build a cruise ship that will not only float on a gas giant, but be habitable throughout a 7 day trip (for the uber-rich of ...
7
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3answers
164 views
How can perpetually-gliding lifeforms develop space travel?
Malgrovian gliders inhabit the middle layers of the atmosphere of Malgrov, a gas dwarf. They spend most of their life gliding, preying on giant balloon-like floating lifeforms. When they get older, ...
1
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1answer
84 views
Building a drone for gas giant flight: Lightning considerations
A previous question's answer established that naturally occurring positrons could be gathered through positron-emitting isotopes. I've started looking into means that these isotopes could be gathered ...
4
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3answers
522 views
Life on a rogue planet
I am imagining a special ecosystem on a rogue planet (a planet that wanders throughout space without orbiting a star or other heavenly object) but I would need your help to fill in the gaps and ...
10
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3answers
334 views
Details needed for day cycle of lunar world orbiting a gas giant
I'm writing a science fiction story set on a moon orbiting a gas giant. I want to understand how the world's day night cycle would appear from its surface and how the world might be affected by this ...
3
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2answers
114 views
How to determine the temperature of an Earth-like planet with two major heat sources?
Ghyesh is an Earth-like habitable moon that orbits a gas giant in a system with a sun significantly larger and hotter than Earth's. Both the gas giant and the sun emit an equal level of heat to the ...
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2answers
489 views
Is this habitable moon possible?
I've already asked a similar question but i'd like more details.
This moon would be orbiting around a saturn like planet without rings.
The host planet would be located in the habitable zone, ...
10
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5answers
250 views
Effects of regular prolonged eclipses on environment
What would be the effect on climate on an Earth-like moon of a gas giant, which experienced regular ("monthly") total solar eclipses (by its gas giant parent) lasting approx. 40 hours.
I'm trying to ...
8
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3answers
450 views
Captured Earth-Like Moons around Gas Giants
Is there a limit (and if so, what is it) to the size (mass) of terrestrial planet that could be "captured" as a moon by a migrating gas giant?
I'm writing a novel where a colony ship crashes on such ...
9
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2answers
980 views
Smallest Black Hole to 'heat' a Gas Giant
So I want a large power source to heat my new real estate on the Jovian moons. I create a micro black hole (MBH), maybe a few kg, maybe more and drop it into Jupiter. I expect the following to happen [...
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1answer
199 views
Dropping a Micro Black Hole into a Gas Giant [duplicate]
Update: Joe Kissling raised some important objections in the comments - I'll play about a bit with black hole masses and update my question accordingly - any answer along similar lines might be ...
4
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9answers
300 views
What could cause a difference in coloration between the hemispheres of a gas giant?
Would it be possible for a gas giant to have differently colored hemispheres?
E.g. the northern hemisphere appearing blue when looked at, while the southern hemisphere would appear brown? (or any ...
1
vote
1answer
413 views
Conditions for human life in a Jupiter-like system
I was wondering about a setting where a moon orbiting a gas giant can sustain human life on its surface, i.e. with nearly identical conditions compared to Earth (e.g. size, gravity, mean temperature, ...
4
votes
3answers
250 views
How can you set up a mine for the lower layers of the gas giants?
So in the story I'm writing, mankind has advanced farther in the next few decades than we have over the past couple thousand years. Colonization has allowed us to settle the planets, and the FTL drive ...
19
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4answers
816 views
Earth-like Moon around the Gas Giant. Eclipse length?
Worldbuilder in dire need!
I'm trying to figure out the eclipse length of a habitable Earth-like moon that is rotating around a gas giant. The story that I work on is centered on the Earth-like moon, ...
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4answers
263 views
Could this work? How to? Terraformed gas-giant
I have an idea for a scify/lost technology world, that I would like to check the plausibility of.
What I want
A terran world of large size. The crust of the world is thin, and hostile gas-organisms ...
12
votes
3answers
434 views
Can life arise on a brown dwarf?
Brown dwarfs are celestial bodies in the gray area between planet and star.
They're huge, gaseous, hot compared to planets, and come in all different kinds.
(1) Is it possible for life to develop in ...
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1answer
395 views
How much space is needed to feed 30,000 people? [duplicate]
also how much space is needed for 30,000 people? I need to build an orbiter that will feed and make sure 30,000 people survive on Jupiter.
0
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1answer
147 views
Multiple moons orbiting a gas giant: How would I calculate how long it appears for a closer moon to orbit the planet from a further-out moon?
I have a habitable moon orbiting a gas giant, and there is another moon orbiting the planet on a closer orbit. The cultures on the near-side of the further, habitable moon use the transit of the ...
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2answers
589 views
Earth-like moons orbiting around a gas giant
I have a world idea (and definitely not the only one with such an idea in which the main location is a moon of a gas giant, that has life like on Earth.
What are the effects of the presence of the ...
5
votes
1answer
277 views
Can I have my blue/green habitable Gas Giant? [duplicate]
For my current Eclipse Phase campaign/Fan Fiction I set up a "habitable" Gas Giant, by habitable I mean, that there is a layer in its atmosphere, where 1 bar of pressure and a temperature of ca. 283 K ...
4
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1answer
399 views
Timekeeping Systems on a Habitable Moon
Ok, this is take two. Hopefully this is specific enough. I have a link to the original question here.
And for those of you eager to see my sources for this, I'll link two videos here from the ...
7
votes
1answer
229 views
What are some possible ways a civilization's time-keeping would be different if originating on the moon of a gas giant? [closed]
(For the record, this is my first question here. Please be gentle, I dunno how this works yet.)
So I understand how gas giants and their many, many moons operate, and I can make educated guesses ...
4
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2answers
231 views
Planetary system with a solar eclipse every day - need help designing
I have a habitable moon orbiting a gas giant. The moon is not tidally locked with the gas giant. The orbital plane of the moon around the gas giant is the same as the orbital plane of the gas giant ...
8
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3answers
352 views
How to create a “twilight” world around a red dwarf star
I'm looking to build a "twilight" world, where days are like twilight even when the sky is clear and nights are...very dark. Cloud cover might be able to turn day to an early night. I do envision a ...
4
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5answers
634 views
Is it possible to transform Jupiter into micro-star?
For fusion to occur we need extremely high temperature at the core to overcome coulomb barrier or for the nucleus to be close enough to tunnel into each other. Is it possible for type 2 civilization ...
18
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11answers
4k views
What would be the first thing humans would mine on Jupiter?
Jupiter is a terrible place to be, but for a number of artistic reasons, I'd like to have my story take place there and only there. "Mining", or resource extraction by any other name, is the usual ...
2
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2answers
172 views
Could a gas giant have a stable orbit within the asteroid belt?
By a stable orbit I mean not getting ejected by the other planets or ejecting them, Let's create a scenario where Neptune occupies an orbit in the asteroid belt at 2.76 AU, Ceres average distance from ...
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2answers
250 views
Consequences of having a gas giant as a neighbour instead of Mars
Assuming we had a gas giant instead of Mars in our planetary system. Everything else stays the same. Which long-term and short-term consequences for life on Earth would I have to take into account?
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4answers
358 views
Maximum amount of habitable moons possible around this Jovian planet?
The gas giant has a mass of about 2.13 Jupiter masses in the habitable zone of a Sun like star 0.981 Sol masses, all the moons will need at least >0.12 percent of Earth's mass and a Mars like density ...
11
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3answers
595 views
Is it possible for life to exist on the core of a gas planet?
I was thinking of writing a story and had the idea of having a society exist on the core of a gas planet. The core would be similar to earth with a breathable atmosphere similar to ours above it but ...
2
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2answers
104 views
Suspended rocks in a gas giant's cloud layer?
I was watching Knights of Sidonia a while back, and one of the episodes in season 2 takes place on a gas giant. Throughout the episode, countless large boulders, each probably larger than a city block,...
