Questions tagged [planets]

For questions about any large astronomical bodies classified as planets, and their effects on their systems.

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8 answers
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Can I create a world of stationary planets?

I have created this massive world composed of 15+ planets, all elevated in space, surrounded by stars and countless other uninhabited/desolate planets. Is this even possible? Do I have to create a ...
bookloverKM's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
65 views

Could a planet with an unusually high heavy metal content sustain life?

I'm playing around with the concept of a planet containing unusually high heavy metal content, due to being born in a nebula that resulted from a neutron star merger. What conditions would this planet ...
Ellie Cressy's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
66 views

Necessary distance for an ammonia world from Toliman

I am designing a planet that orbits the star Toliman, (Alpha Centauri B), which orbits well beyond the conventional Goldilocks zone. This planet has a similar radius to earth (6240 km) but its mass is ...
user98816's user avatar
  • 8,573
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Could mountains form on anhydrous planets?

The primary mechanism for mountain formation (of which I'm aware) is uplift of the crust, with rivers eroding their way through softer sediments as the crust rises to form peaks and canyons. That ...
Rabadash8820's user avatar
12 votes
8 answers
3k views

What would a glassed planet really look like?

While the Halo franchise has used it a lot, other franchises have also mentioned/threatened with the idea of glassing a planet. The sheer heat of the attacks used on the planet to make it ...
Demigan's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
114 views

Procedural Atmosphere for exoplanet - pseudorealistic composition, pressure etc

I have a programme built in python and rust, procedurally generating stars, planets, etc. I have come to a point where I have to work on atmospheric characteristics, hopefully managing to get a pseudo-...
Hal's user avatar
  • 131
-2 votes
1 answer
81 views

Ancient Mars & Human Habitation

I'm considering the idea of ancient Mars having been inhabited by humans, then undergoing a cataclysm that ruined the environment and drove humans off-world to resettle on Earth. Now, I may just ...
ajderxsen's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
149 views

Burning Steel as Firewood

On Planet FeC, residents commonly burn naturally occurring steel ingots as what we would call firewood. As with actual firewood on Earth, these ingots vary in fireworthiness: a large, "green"...
Ray Woodcock's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
159 views

Large Chasm with water in desert world , temperatures and wind patterns

I'm developing a desert world with polar ice caps, but the majority of the planet is covered in scorching desert terrain. The ice caps, though present, are relatively small, and the areas near the ...
Naima's user avatar
  • 375
4 votes
2 answers
216 views

Does planet size affect mountain formation?

I just wanted to know if the size of a planet would affect the size of its mountains. For example, I know Mars has larger mountains than our own despite being 1/3 our size. Do planets that are larger ...
Tycho's user avatar
  • 103
3 votes
1 answer
171 views

A small planet with earthlike gravity

Is it possible to create an Earthlike planet, that is smaller than the Earth , like for example the size of Mars, by altering the core composition like for example making it: Iron (Piron ): 75.6% ...
Naima's user avatar
  • 375
5 votes
4 answers
867 views

Large-Scale Biospheres on Mars

I've been researching the idea of spreading out vast sheets of aerogel across regions of Mars. This would theoretically have the effect of both warming whatever land is under the sheet - thus melting ...
ajderxsen's user avatar
7 votes
9 answers
3k views

What reasons might day and night be very similar on a planet

I have a planet where I would like the distinction between night and day to be minimal. It is usually bright and it is usually hot. The best I can come up with is a tidally locked planet, where ...
trubliphone's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
100 views

what shape would a planet entirely dedicated to watching be [closed]

If I have a planet fully dedicated to watching (think the Eye from Magnus Archives) what shape would allow for constant observation of the whole planet from some sort of tower
Overflight's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
159 views

Weather and climate of an Earth-like planet orbiting an orange dwarf

I am creating a solar system with fictional planets as a setting for my space novel. Luckily I have some nice tools for creating quite accurate astronomical data. The planet where my protagonists live ...
Alessandro Miletti's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
248 views

How do ocean currents work on a tidally locked planet?

I am currently designing a tidally locked world with a big enough ocean to transfer heat from the day side to the night side and vice versa. Here is a map of my world: The darker sides are supposed ...
ΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ ΜΙΧΑΗΛΙΔΗΣ's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
112 views

How do I figure out where a moon is in the sky at a given time and place?

I use this planetarium tool to see the position of the Moon to check I have it in the right place for a given place and time, for my non-Earth plant. I'm considering having another moon. How would I ...
Syntal's user avatar
  • 53
3 votes
1 answer
183 views

What are the factors/conditions that develop blindness in organisms?

I plan that the creatures of my world are usually blind, so they possess sensory organs (barbels) in several variants. The planet where they are found is cloudy and the peat swamps they inhabit are ...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
113 views

At what approximate distance and what size should binary planets be for a day to be no more than 30-32 hours long?

For the story I'm trying to find a more or less plausible description of the planet. Initially I was considering planet size like Mars or mid-size between Earth and Mars. Аnd this planet is in tidal ...
Tanya's user avatar
  • 23
2 votes
1 answer
139 views

Could one moon appear to always follow/lead another in the sky?

Is there any way a second moon would appear to hang out near the closer one in the sky? For example always appearing either ahead of or behind throughout the year, or even alternating between those ...
Syntal's user avatar
  • 53
3 votes
1 answer
179 views

Could a sky be green(day)->purple(dusk)->black(night) and still be breathable?

similar requirements but green. The reason this doesn’t answer my question is because I’d rather not have aeroplankton Similar story with this one and I want it permanently habitable. It takes place ...
Spaghetti_Writer's user avatar
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
12 votes
7 answers
4k views

What is the lowest tech level that could sustain life on Mars or the Moon?

Inspired by this question, which asks how we could achieve a "backup" of human life. Mars came up as an obvious idea, but with the caveat that it is nigh impossible to keep a Mars colony ...
fgysin's user avatar
  • 3,210
9 votes
13 answers
5k views

If 30% of global military spending for the next 30 years were instead spent on an "intelligent life" backup colony, where should we site it and why? [closed]

Some industry leaders have proposed that AI poses a risk of extinction. Suppose some kind of an AI-related incident occurs that really scares humanity into action, and that this causes the world's ...
phil1008's user avatar
  • 257
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
2 votes
2 answers
342 views

Can this Star system exist?

Can this star system with this configuration plausibly exist or not? If not please explain why it can't exist or explain its issues. Planetary system Star A 1.1 M⊙ Planets types mass semi-major axis ...
user107608's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
116 views

How deep can the oceans on my planet realistically be? [duplicate]

I want to know how deep the oceans of my super-Earth can plausibly be. Is there any way to calculate the depth of my oceans? Here are the characteristics of my planet to help with the calculations: ...
user107608's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
98 views

Could a planet be ejected from a system by a rogue planet? (possibly in a binary pairing)

Assuming an earth-like Solar System with an earth-like planet, would it be possible for a rogue planet travelling at a high speed to disrupt the earth-like planet's orbit so as to leave the solar ...
Dova's user avatar
  • 143
4 votes
2 answers
293 views

Designing ad-hoc radio relay system for people lost on alien world

I have a story set on a habitable but otherwise unpopulated alien world with a breathable atmosphere in which two opposing groups of survivors of a crash each try to seize control of an orbiting ...
moonbase_starbucks's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
725 views

Radioactive planet wrecks civilisations every 5 millennia- How stable will it be?

Backstory Okay, so for now, let's pretend the creatures on this planet are just the same as those on Earth. Humans, cattle, pets etc, are just the same, cause I haven't yet thought up the biological ...
Alastor's user avatar
  • 3,402
12 votes
9 answers
7k views

Is it biologically possible for one species to need another species to reproduce?

I'm writing a speculative story about a planet in another Solar System. On this planet, there are five types of reproduction strategies amongst the sapient species. There are androgenic, gynogenics, ...
Rhymehouse's user avatar
  • 3,563
1 vote
2 answers
186 views

Effects of Planetary Neutron Bombardment [closed]

A space civilization blackmails Earth by bombarding Venus with massive amounts of neutrons. It's one of their main technologies and there are reasons for not doing it otherwise. What would be the ...
Daniel Ramires's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
353 views

Implications of Venus and Mars having the same mass as Earth

Could anyone advise if there have been any simulations on the long term stability of our solar system if Venus and Mars both had the same mass as Earth ? If not, is this something that can be answered ...
Adrian's user avatar
  • 9
-1 votes
2 answers
225 views

What training would prepare you to colonize Alpha Centauri Cb?

It's 100 years in the future. 7 strategic, catastrophic bombs fell on Earth 55 years ago. Billions died. Countries, governments collapsed. Corporations rose, mega-companies who rule the world, ...
reiterwriter's user avatar
13 votes
6 answers
3k views

Minimum amount of land a planet can have and still be habitable?

I read in a paper, posted by L.Dutch, that: It turns out that water worlds may be some of the worst places to look for living things. One study presented at the meeting shows how a planet covered in ...
DanceroftheStars's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
888 views

How to explain an ocean planet having lots of greenhouse gases

How would I explain an ocean planet having a large amount of greenhouse gasses, I do not mean akin to Venus, I just mean enough to increase the size of the habitable zone by a sufficent amount. Enough ...
DanceroftheStars's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
286 views

Temperature of an Earthlike planet in Mars location?

In the future, Mars has been successfully terraformed to be Earth-like in terms of atmosphere so that humans can inhabit it safely. If Mars had an atmosphere similar to Earth, but was still 1.52 AUs ...
gumbo's user avatar
  • 269
1 vote
1 answer
276 views

Can a terrestial planet have a core of metallic hydrogen?

Let's say somehow, a yellow dwarf like our sun was sent hurtling through space, and smacked into a red giant with enough force to cause the two to go supernova. With the release of large amounts of ...
TheGoldenBoy2188 The Coolest G's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
136 views

So, I was thinking a biological kinda ozone layer?

So, in my work, there is this terraformed Venus in the future. Venus is a sunny, warm tropical world with oceans, islands, and small continents, and is basically the Caribbean/Hawaii/Polynesia of the ...
JJ2161's user avatar
  • 39
0 votes
0 answers
84 views

How to find the region where gas giants can exist?

I am looking at making a system and it leaves me wondering, at what distance would ice giants start forming from their star compared to gas giants. Like, lets give our sun as an example, would ...
DanceroftheStars's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
110 views

(Fixed) Fictional calendar is 345 days with 28 hours per day and 14 hours day and night cycle--how old are 13 year olds vs Earth calendar? [closed]

I had the worst brain fart earlier, sorry. My fictional calendar is currently 345 days with 28 hours per day, with 14 hours day and night cycle [I have no idea why I effed that up so badly prior]. I ...
rikurins's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
131 views

What's the maximum mass for an Iron Planet to have a magnetosphere like Mercury's?

I'm designing an iron planet which migrated into its habitable zone. Basic research told me iron planets cool off too quickly to have a magnetic field, so initially I was looking for ways native life ...
Thoth's user avatar
  • 317
3 votes
2 answers
228 views

Could Moon Phases work in a Concave Hollow-Earth?

I'm trying to wrap my head around how phases of the moon(s) would operate in a hollow earth. For reference, I am picturing a situation like this: In this system, the center of the hollow earth has a ...
A Herrera's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
227 views

What would a rough estimate of the global climate of an earth be like if lit by a geosynchronous ring instead of a point source?

Welcome to fantasy earth: like Earth in all the same ways, with the exception that the sun you know has been replaced with a ring you don't. What would the climate of Earth be if the sun was replaced ...
MegatheriumMegafauna's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
384 views

How would a planet's surface be younger than the planet itself? [closed]

Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, is 4.5 billion years old (like Earth.) However, its surface is only 20-180 million years old. What could lead to a planet/moon's surface being younger than the planet/...
Sky-and-Clouds's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
85 views

How can an Earth-like planet support two moons of different sizes [closed]

In my world, I need to have two moons orbiting an Earth-like planet. I need the extreme tides as they play a big part for a cultural detail. The first moon should be roughly the size of our own moon, ...
Rey's user avatar
  • 11
-2 votes
1 answer
79 views

What composition of atmosphere would work with CO2 best? [closed]

I'm working on a solar system where there is a planet with a red-ish atmosphere, due to it mainly being composed of CO2. I know CO2 doesn't react with many chemicals and is pretty dull, molecule-wise. ...
Silvermidnight's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Could this hypothetical Super-Earth support human life?

The Question Could this hypothetical Super-Earth (Planet Y) support the lives of human settlers arriving from off world, or have I created any reasons for the planet to be inhospitable? Planet Y Star: ...
DangItBilly's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
150 views

How much difference would Alpha Centauri A cause to the climate of a planet about Alpha Centauri B?

Imagine an earthlike planet in the habitable zone of Alpha Centauri B. Call it ACBc (although I am not sure ACBb has been confirmed). When ACA and ACB are closest to one another, they are about 11 AU ...
Mark Foskey's user avatar
  • 1,065
8 votes
3 answers
756 views

Could this hypothetical Sub-Earth support human life?

The Question Is a theoretical 2/3rds - 7/10ths Earth big enough to have the magnetic field, atmosphere and plate tectonics to do this, or will I wind up geologically killing the planet? I have been ...
DangItBilly's user avatar

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