Questions tagged [habitability]

For questions asking about the conditions which are required for the development of life as we know it.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
7 votes
2 answers
327 views

Could a cold-cored planet be protected by a hot-cored moon?

This is an earth-sized planet, unable to produce an adequately protective magnetic field. Could a moon with a hot, iron/nickel core produce a magnetosphere large enough to encompass the planet and ...
Valitenci's user avatar
  • 438
1 vote
1 answer
97 views

Atypical Habitable Planets - Planets Outside of Typical 'Habitable Zone' With Characteristics Still Conducive to Life

Warning: I am wordy and I overexplain things. I'm also Autistic, so I may come off as odd or unusual (and that also feeds into why I overexplain LOL). I'll do my best to be clear and concise, but you ...
Kunabee's user avatar
  • 13
2 votes
2 answers
140 views

What is the albedo of a habitable planet?

What is the albedo range for an Earth-like planet? I need to know because it's important for determining the inner and outer edges of the habitable zone. I'm thinking in terms of cloud/water-ratio (I'...
Sussus Amogus's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
694 views

What atmospheric composition would this planet need for an avg. temperature of 50 Celsius?

Planet Info: Star: 1.25x solar mass / F6V Type / ~6300K / 1.97x Luminosity Planet is 1.84x Earth Mass, same density as Earth Orbiting at 1.42 AU atmospheric pressure is 3.68atm Inputting these ...
Foosic17's user avatar
  • 1,152
8 votes
3 answers
288 views

How to protect a water planet within a water ring of a quasar from radiation?

Tags: science-based habitability radiation I am using this discovery as my starting point (Source) An international team of astronomers led by the California Institute of Technology and involving the ...
Thunderhammer's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
88 views

What is the largest apparent size a moon of a habitable planet can have? [duplicate]

Inspired by this question: How large can an apparent size of a moon be? I am looking for a moon that is: a terrestrial moon with properties vaguely similar to Luna (not a binary planet, but it can be ...
casualworldbuilder's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
268 views

On Habitable Moon Systems

Context I was working on a habitable gas giant moon, but I came across an issue in that, at the acceptable distances from its parent planet (10-20 planetary Radii, according to an Artefexian video on ...
DanceroftheStars's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
262 views

Can a Super-Earth have a large moon?

I'm writing about a Super-Earth which is habitable and has a large moon, but I want to get one thing out of the way: can a Super-Earth have a large moon? Wouldn't the Super-Earth pull on the moon, ...
Jerry Robinson's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
75 views

Local surface warming on a rogue planet [closed]

There have been several previous questions about geothermal warming of a rogue planet with regard to depth: how much overlying atmosphere, water, rock do you need for a given geothermal flux to ...
rwallace's user avatar
  • 4,907
1 vote
2 answers
210 views

Could humans live on a cylindrical celestial body?

Let's imagine a roughly (or perfectly?) cylindrical celestial body. Other than it's shape, everything about it astronomically (distance from sun, orbit shape, etc.) is the same as Earth. Is it ...
Mocascoolai's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
1k views

Is this ocean-planet stable?

I'm building a cold, water-based ocean-planet for my current setting, its temperature being below 0°c at all times and in all of its regions. Even despite the freezing temperatures, the planet's ...
NimRad's user avatar
  • 1,120
6 votes
6 answers
2k views

How possible is a habitable, liquid ocean-planet at temperatures below 0°C?

I plan on having an ocean-planet with a breathable atmosphere built into my current setting, orbiting its host-star (a K4v main-sequence star) a short distance beyond its frost-line, with oceans that ...
NimRad's user avatar
  • 1,120
4 votes
2 answers
591 views

Would an increase in star density affect the "Goldilocks Zone"?

Let's say that there's a solar system that matches the description of Sol exactly, save for the fact that it's 20,000 light years closer/farther to the galactic center. Would the zone of one ...
Jarren_Takar's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
229 views

How to increase Jupiter’s reflectivity?

The idea of turning Jupiter into a sun to terraform the Galilean moons is a popular one. This concept goes by the alluring name of “stellification,” but has a few important drawbacks when prodded with ...
user98816's user avatar
  • 8,573
7 votes
3 answers
291 views

How far from a habitable planet must a red giant star be to not seriously affect it?

Can a habitable planet having complex life exist in a binary star system with a Red Giant? I am not talking about close binaries, but distant binaries (100 AU or more). Planets can orbit some smaller ...
Bedlasky's user avatar
  • 131
1 vote
1 answer
151 views

Could a planet in Alpha Circini system have developed carbon-based life?

For my story, I'm searching for a home star of one of the alien civilisations. Due to the desired region in space, I have now set my eyes on the Alpha Circini system (HIP 71908, HD 128898, GJ 560). I ...
Krišjānis Liepiņš's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
189 views

Do the parameters for this moon work? Will it be habitable?

I was wondering if the parameters for this world will work. It doesn’t need to be pleasant for humans but it will have at least multicellular life. Object name: Adii-1 Mass: 0.33334x Earth’s Mean ...
casualworldbuilder's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
144 views

How do I make an Earth-like habitable planet tidally locked to a red supergiant (class L or M)?

Assuming tidally locked planets have the potential to be inhabitable: Is there any way for a planet of Earth-like size to become tidally locked to a red supergiant of class L or M?
Mensch79's user avatar
-2 votes
2 answers
203 views

Habitable moon and hycean world [closed]

A hycean world is a cross between a rocky planet and a gas giant. Think an ocean world with an atmosphere full of hydrogen. Assuming it is in the habitable zone of its star, could a habitable moon, ...
Joe Smith's user avatar
  • 3,192
3 votes
3 answers
1k views

Could my planet be habitable (Or partially habitable) by humans?

Set up I'm currently building a planet that I want to have both alien life forms and humans. It has the following traits: Humans migrated from Earth a long time ago, but only landed on the planet 24 ...
TheDarkeLordeReturns's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
349 views

How deep would a canyon on this planet have to be to have an earth-like atmosphere?

I have, for a while now, been intrigued by the planet Canyon in Larry Niven’s Known Space universe: Canyon was once an uninhabitable Mars-like world known as Warhead. It is the second of seven ...
user98816's user avatar
  • 8,573
1 vote
3 answers
144 views

Could humans survive inside the caldera of an extinct volcano on a very hot planet?

I was inspired by Dune, where the characters can't really go outside during the day (at least for long) because it's so hot, so they stay inside these massive buildings. On a planet which is very hot (...
DMacc1917's user avatar
  • 946
2 votes
5 answers
393 views

Could humans possibly survive on a shallow ocean planet with scarce, but large, volcanic islands?

[edited after feedback in comments] I've had an idea for a story that takes place on a planet that is primarily shallow oceans (average depth of no more than 100m or so, max depth of no more than ...
DMacc1917's user avatar
  • 946
7 votes
6 answers
1k views

What is the maximum amount of land (percentage-wise) a habitable planet can have?

Earth is our only example of a habitable planet. The surface of Earth is 29% land and 71% ocean. I am wondering what other land ratios can create a habitable planet. Half a billion years ago, Earth ...
Rhymehouse's user avatar
  • 3,563
5 votes
4 answers
3k views

How long can a shattered Dyson Ring support life?

Now I recently had an idea for a setting and villain backstory and thought might as well get it vetted. Once, there was a mighty Empire that had conquered its home system and converted most of the ...
Jacob Badger's user avatar
  • 2,343
6 votes
2 answers
274 views

What effects would a Jupiter-like gas giant's magnetosphere have on a human civilization on its habitable exo-moon?

Background: Like many others here, I'm building a world for a story I'm writing. I'd like it to be taken for granted that a moon roughly the size of Earth that is habitable for humans could exist in a ...
bnbaum's user avatar
  • 89
5 votes
1 answer
249 views

Must a habitable planet's moon be tidally locked, and why?

Artifexian in his Worldsmith and other videos of his recommends a moon of a habitable planet must be a tidally locked moon. But why is that? I fail to understand how rotation of a moon about its axis ...
Ylahris's user avatar
  • 487
3 votes
2 answers
198 views

In a world where gravity pass from 1 G to 5 G in a cycle of 365 days, can planes fly all the time?

I am writing a book and I have this cenario. There is a planet where gravity pass from 1 G to 5 G in a cycle of 365 days. I know that humans can survive till 3-5G, but what about airplanes capability ...
Alessar's user avatar
  • 371
4 votes
1 answer
260 views

Making a moon habitable through tidal heating

Let’s say we have a Star system with a gas giant about 30 AU from the local sun. This is way too far for this particular sun to warm any moons to habitability (unless life inhabits subsurface oceans) ...
user98816's user avatar
  • 8,573
9 votes
3 answers
961 views

How do I determine the habitable zone of a binary star system?

Suppose two stars orbit each other and the planets orbit around the two stars' barycenter. I'm thinking of having at least one as a main sequence G or K class. For the sake of argument, let the other ...
Ylahris's user avatar
  • 487
4 votes
3 answers
316 views

An Earthlike World Placed Around a Blue White Dwarf

A star that is bright, gives off blue light, and can have a world that mimics conditions on Earth is tricky. I'm hoping I can get one around a blue-colored white dwarf star. What does the arrangement ...
DWKraus's user avatar
  • 63.4k
6 votes
6 answers
237 views

Why would a near future society struggle to grow crops on a large level?

I have a world where its mostly in ruins. But its run practically by corporations and smaller factions. A large part of the world is recovering from ecological collapse, massive pollution that travels ...
FIRES_ICE's user avatar
  • 3,153
3 votes
2 answers
253 views

Can a habitable S-type planet and three habitable P-type planets exist in one binary star system?

In this solar system are two stars, named Genesis and Exodus. Currently, I don't know the types because the need of habitability on the planets might affect the requirements for these stars. They ...
raevynn's user avatar
  • 335
6 votes
4 answers
990 views

What is a reasonable day length for a planet with 4 times earth radius?

The fictional planet has a mass of 18 times Earth's and four times earth's equatorial radiusreference. This gives it a gravitational acceleration of 11.02m/s^2 (1.29G) and an escape velocity of 23....
Mindwin Remember Monica's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
82 views

Planet Orbital Zone and Year Length

So I'm building a fantasy world that takes place on a planet with a circumference of about 18,500 miles (it's average temperature is 40℉), and it orbits a Blue-Giant. How long would a year be, and how ...
CaptainYulef's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
189 views

Daily eclipses for a moon orbiting a gas giant?

I've dug into the idea of a habitable moon getting daily eclipses due to its gas giant getting in the way of the sun; but most examples I've found specify a tidally locked moon. I'm no astrophysicist ...
Deep Stone Costco's user avatar
7 votes
8 answers
2k views

Is life feasible in an inhospitable binary system?

There is a planet orbiting a binary system inside the Goldilocks zone. The problem is that the binary system is of a violent kind. It either regularly explodes and sterilizes a portion of the planet's ...
Andrey Godyaev's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
380 views

How much more mass does Mars need to have in order to still be habitable today?

In an alternate timeline where Mars is the second Earth-like planet in our Solar System, the drive for colonizing it would perhaps have been much stronger. There would've been more resources spent ...
Hanhan658's user avatar
  • 569
19 votes
12 answers
4k views

What would cause plants to survive on the ground while restricting animals to the air?

What would be the natural reason for the surface of a planet to be toxic or otherwise uninhabitable to animals but not plants? This planet is not Earth and life would have evolved this way from the ...
Juliette's user avatar
  • 341
3 votes
2 answers
328 views

What geographic changes need to occur to make Southern Australia fertile?

Currently, 90% of Australia's land is inhospitable desert. What geographic changes need to occur for its southern side to become fertile soil?
Bangerblade's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
110 views

What would happen on a binary planet if they captured a new moon into orbit?

I've been working on a world where the origin of the magic system is a catastrophic event that ripped the surface of the planet apart allowing magical energy from beneath the crust to escape to the ...
Jasmine's user avatar
  • 41
2 votes
5 answers
147 views

How could large scale mining operations render an arid region unlivable?

A story I am working on sees the characters returning to a fairly arid planet that was mined heavily by an interplanetary corporation. This left most of the planet uninhabitable and forced the local ...
user16768946's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
108 views

Consequences of living on either of two habitable planets orbiting a super-Earth? [closed]

I'm working on a habitable planetary system just at the doorstep of the Solar System. I'd like it to be unique, so I'm thinking of using two habitable planets orbiting a super-Earth. The super-Earth ...
CuriousMoron's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
1k views

Plausibility check : a planet with tropical poles

is this planet plausible? the planet is the third planet from its star. by size smaller than Earth. the planet has no moons. the only habitable areas are rings around the poles. in the pole, there's ...
faddllz's user avatar
  • 1,822
5 votes
3 answers
231 views

How would griffins collect materials for their nests?

Seeing as griffins are much bigger creatures than birds, plenty more twigs and sticks would be required and so larger size too. So how would griffins go about collecting materials for their nest? One ...
Syphoenix's user avatar
  • 1,255
4 votes
2 answers
555 views

If Earth's atmosphere was 100% oxygen, which settlement would be the lowest habitable one? [duplicate]

If we replace all other gases of the Earth's atmosphere by oxygen so that we have 1 atm oxygen at sea level, which one would be the lowest (either permanently or for a certain amount of time) ...
Giovanni's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
101 views

What would be the effects on climate on a Venus sized planet orbiting a K0V star in a similar manner to Mars?

The planet has the characteristics of Venus in terms of mass (0.815 Earths), density (5.243g/cm3), surface area (0.902 Earths) and gravity (8.87m/s). It has an Earth-like atmosphere,water covers about ...
Aristeus's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
238 views

Verifying Habitability/ Feasibility of my Conworld

Right, lets try this again. I'm making a planet for a book I'm writing. I want to know if the planet I outline here is scientifically probable, able to support life, and what the climate would ...
Arthur Lawrence 's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
127 views

How far away would you need to be to survive a jet of stellar plasma on the surface of a "planet" built around a sun?

So, I'm considering writing a story, and one of the settings is a world created by a powerful wizard millions of years ago, by opening a thousand portals to gate in a thousand Earth-like worlds that ...
nick012000's user avatar
  • 5,286
5 votes
3 answers
197 views

How Do I Make Trappist-1g Habitable (in a fantasy setting)

This question is not about terraforming! (or atleast not technological terraforming) I am writing a fantasy story set in the (real) Trappist-1 system. I am trying to faithfully keep most of the ...
skout's user avatar
  • 2,068

1
2 3 4 5 6