All Questions
Tagged with planets earth-like
129 questions
39
votes
2
answers
7k
views
Terrestrial Exoplanet Skies – I've Built a Visual Sky Chart. Is it Correct?
I'm an artist and I've been trying to find a comprehensive resource that would help me clearly identify likely sky colors for exoplanets that have atmospheres with a similar chemical composition to ...
- 1,160
38
votes
11
answers
6k
views
Stumped: How can I get a huge Earth-like planet?
I hope this isn't too broad.
I would like an Earth-like planet for November's NaNoWriMo that is just enormous, but plausible.
Then I started to get into material composition, proximity to the star, ...
- 17.4k
30
votes
16
answers
11k
views
In what era or tech level in earth's history did people have the ability to cross a super-earth's ocean 50,000 km wide?
I have a huge planet with two continents separated by a wide ocean. Inhabitants think that their continent is the whole world because the other side is too far and they never visited it. What if ...
- 1,201
24
votes
6
answers
6k
views
How many tectonic plates should my planet have? And why?
While constructing a planet, with the same mass, volume and overall composition as Earth, how do I know how many tectonic plates should it have? And what does having more or fewer tectonic plates ...
- 501
23
votes
13
answers
6k
views
What could cause the Earth to be so endangered that mankind needs to relocate to another system?
I am looking at realistic options that could damage the Earth so severely that it would be impossible for mankind to survive there and that would also not allow us to just colonize other planets or ...
- 331
23
votes
5
answers
5k
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How would a civilization that has been living on a "cube" Earth differ from one on a "spherical" Earth?
Another question based off of this one here. Let's say on a cube styled Earth-like planet, there was a similar race to humans. If the differences in the planets were minimal (besides, you know, the ...
- 1,869
21
votes
7
answers
3k
views
How do I maximize a planet's wave height (on average)?
Premise
I am in the formation phase of a fictional world. I would like one of its notable characteristics to be extremely large waves. On Earth, most of our large waves are triggered by earthquakes, ...
- 8,819
20
votes
13
answers
6k
views
How can a portal that connects two planets affect the environment?
In my world there are two planets within the same solar system, which are connected approximately every seven cycles through a portal that opens for a few days.
The planets are very similar.
The ...
- 363
19
votes
7
answers
4k
views
What's the quickest way to add oceans to a planet?
After writing this question about the ecology of a terraformed planet, I realized that I hadn't quite tied up all the loose ends of the terraforming process itself. I intended for a group of aliens ...
- 102k
17
votes
5
answers
5k
views
If Earth was tidally locked to the sun, where on the surface would the climate be mildest or most hospitable?
This is specifically about the climate, and where on the planet it would be mildest.
Imagine Earth, rotating at the usual distance from the sun. Except, it is tidally locked to the sun; a so-called "...
- 1,261
16
votes
7
answers
5k
views
What could cause the world to be almost completely submerged in water, naturally or man-made?
I'm trying to build a world that is almost completely water, but I couldn't come up with an explanation for WHY the world was like this. The world has the same gravity and atmosphere of Earth. It also ...
- 225
16
votes
6
answers
3k
views
What would the Earth eventually look like, if it was somehow stripped of its atmosphere today?
Consider the present day Earth. Now, through some event (magic, a giant maid with a vacuum cleaner, a disgruntled alien did it, ...), our planet is stripped of its atmosphere. Assume that this happens ...
- 29k
16
votes
5
answers
2k
views
What would produce the most uneven but earthlike planetary surface?
What planetary parameters such as plate tectonics and volcanism etc would best encourage the most uneven planetary surface on an earth like planet?
I want a world to be covered in very uneven terrain,...
- 38.4k
15
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Orbiting one star in a binary system: what are the effects of the second star on the planet?
This blog post about binary-star systems points out that, rather having the stars be close together, they could be far apart and a planet might orbit just one of them. It gives the example of the ...
- 19.6k
15
votes
7
answers
12k
views
What if an Earth-like planet had no axial tilt? (climate and technology) [closed]
Hey guys, thanks for the suggestions and answers - here's a more streamlined question - presently focused on implications on climate and technology. I've also added a little more explanation in the ...
14
votes
7
answers
3k
views
Moon occasionally appears much larger in the sky
Is there a way for a moon to usually appear relatively similar to our own moon, but occasionally appear much larger from the planet's surface without causing natural disasters due to extreme ...
- 5,485
13
votes
7
answers
3k
views
Maximum habitability of a planet with no indigenous life
I've been thinking about terraforming and planets in general.
We can look at the planets we know that might be terraformable - Venus and Mars - and understand the technical requirements for doing so. ...
- 1,926
13
votes
3
answers
471
views
What would the geologic record look like on a planet in the galactic halo?
Imagine an Earth-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star in the inner halo of the Milky Way. As a halo star, it will likely be somewhat metal-poor, having formed early in the life of the galaxy, but ...
- 102k
12
votes
4
answers
2k
views
A world with a moon orbiting much closer than ours
The world I am envisioning is a rocky planet with oceans, plate tectonics, atmosphere, and several other similarities to our globe. The mass and size is roughly equal, but its moon is orbiting much ...
- 734
12
votes
2
answers
23k
views
How much force needed to blow open a planet?
I recently asked this question about what would happen if a fusion bomb went off in the core of a planet, and the answer was relatively uninteresting. As was aptly said in my previous answer, the ...
- 7,547
12
votes
2
answers
501
views
How small in diameter a planet can be while retaining most of Earth's properties?
Suppose that I have a planet very similar to Earth. It has the same level of gravity, water-land ratio, temperature, air composition, rotation and revolution speed, tectonic activities, temperature. ...
- 634
12
votes
3
answers
845
views
Horseshoe Orbits
I'm envisioning a series of moons in orbit of a super-earth (ideal) or gas giant.
If technically workable, the super-earth would have earthlike gravity, the mass and size aren't important. If it's too ...
- 1,863
11
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Is a moon made entirely of water possible?
I have two earth clones, in essence, separated by *16550 miles (26350 kilometers). They are, of course, tidally locked, and orbit each other once every 24 hours. These planets orbit a sun identical to ...
- 7,026
10
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Can someone help me with ocean currents? I'm really confused
I've been working on a constructed world which started out as the home of an alien race from a sci-fi story I'm writing but just became a pure world building project.
As you can see from the map it ...
10
votes
3
answers
2k
views
The view of the sky from an Inverted/Hollow Earth?
Obviously there are plenty of potential physics problems with this scenario, but if people lived along the inner crust of the Earth, and there was a Sun-like core at the center with nothing else in-...
- 203
10
votes
3
answers
1k
views
How do I give my planet a stronger magnetic field? Playing with variables
Let's say I have a terrestrial planet superficially like earth, except that it rotates much slower (about 10-15 days per rotation) and its atmosphere is ideally several times thicker. If I want this ...
- 1,160
9
votes
4
answers
467
views
Are these conditions for a planet realistic?
Since I'm creating a "new world" for my story, I wanted to know if the following conditions would work for an Earth-like planet:
Its moon (more or less same size as our moon) being much closer (but ...
- 111
9
votes
4
answers
745
views
How far should second star be in my binary system?
For a certain reason, I needed two habitable similar earth-like planets very close to each other. After various information gathering, I gave up on double planet and gas giant moons, because tidal ...
- 3,649
9
votes
2
answers
1k
views
What is the fastest an earth-like planet can spin and still support life, and would it be possible to launch space-craft from it?
I was wondering, if a planet in similar size and mass to earth would have, from its creation, been spinning at this hypothetical planet speed limit (with it somehow staying in once piece) could life ...
- 211
8
votes
6
answers
5k
views
A Planet Where The Four Seasons Occur Multiple Times In One Year?
Earthlings,
I live on a world where most places on my planet has four seasons, just like yours does. We also have one sun and one moon, presumably. It's been not even a year since I came of age (20), ...
- 2,575
8
votes
5
answers
4k
views
Would My Planet’s Blue Sun Kill Earth-Life?
I’m creating an Earth-like world where the sun appears blue to people from the planet’s surface. I think I’ve narrowed down the cause of this effect to the presence of 1 micron particles in the ...
- 1,871
8
votes
3
answers
1k
views
What would weather look like on a world with a 9-year day?
In a world I am building, the planet's days are longer than its years, with a single day taking 9 years. In all other ways, this planet is similar to Earth, but are there other differences I am ...
- 56.3k
8
votes
3
answers
342
views
How quickly could a rogue Earth return to habitability after a deep freeze?
Background
A large star makes a relatively close approach to a solar system like our own and the orbits of many of the planets are badly perturbed. A planet similar to Earth is in the wrong place at ...
- 38.4k
8
votes
2
answers
456
views
Would residents of a small planet realize the planet is small?
I am considering setting my next D&D campaign on an earthlike but small planet. By "small," I am imagining a world that still feels vast, yet is circumnavigable over land and/or water with low or ...
- 81
8
votes
4
answers
754
views
What kind of human habitable planets should in put in the goldilock zone?
I want to have 3 different habitable BY HUMANS planets in a single system, I don't know much about physics so I bought Universe Sandbox2 and I'm trying to build solar system with 3 habitable planets ...
- 367
8
votes
2
answers
11k
views
What would happen to a planet without its core?
What would happen to an Earth-like planet if its core completely and instantly vanished? Would the planet begin to pull in on itself due to asymmetry and the empty space in the middle, or would it ...
- 1,869
8
votes
1
answer
386
views
How would you calculate the habitable surface area on Gliese 667 Cc?
How could I calculate the habitable bounds, in relation to temperature, near the twilight zone of Gliese 667 Cc? Assuming an Earth-like atmosphere and no tidal working.
Here are the numbers that I ...
- 93
8
votes
1
answer
210
views
Can you critique my sea temp map and answer a couple of specific questions?
I'm working on yet another iteration of a world map project.
I'd like to ask for some opinions on the sea temperature map I've done:
I also have a few specific questions about some areas on the map.
...
- 81
8
votes
3
answers
446
views
Planetizing the World of Jack and the Beanstalk: How Small is Too Small?
We all know the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk--a farmboy sells his cow for some "magic beans", which in turn grow into a mountainously tall stalk that led him to the land of a giant. Now, ...
- 14.9k
7
votes
6
answers
4k
views
How Big Can a Habitable Planet Get Before Its Gravity is More Than 0.8 m/s² above Earth's 9.81 m/s²?
This is NOT a repeat of this question.
I am NOT looking to see the smallest planet possible that has less gravity than Earth. I am looking for how big a perfectly habitable planet (Habitable meaning ...
- 1,147
7
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Siamese Twin Planets?
Premise
I want to explore the possibility of a planet that is extremely misshapen. If we were to extrapolate what we have observed from our solar system and the extra-solar planets discovered so far, ...
- 8,819
7
votes
3
answers
757
views
Is planetary drill possible?
I was wondering would a planetary drill be possible?
The drill should go inside the planet on one side and exit on the other.
Would that kind of a drill be possible on Earth and if not on what kind of ...
- 226
7
votes
3
answers
348
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 ...
- 102k
7
votes
3
answers
773
views
Would a planet with a 4 year solar orbit have differing seasons?
I'm writing a setting for some fantasy novels, and came up with an idea about weather and climate.
The world I'm imagining has an elliptical orbit around a binary system, giving it basically 2 stars....
- 1,134
7
votes
2
answers
618
views
Could a carbon/silicon/oxygen planet exist?
I'm exploring various kinds of potentially habitable planets as part of a universe-building exercise, and have recently delved into the fascinating concept of carbon-rich planets. My question is ...
- 129
7
votes
1
answer
364
views
What would be the effects on a planet orbiting a shedding red giant?
In a sci-fi RPG I eventually intend to run for a couple of friends, I had the idea of them visiting ancient ruins on a planet orbiting a shedding red giant.
Now, ignoring the problem of intelligent ...
- 314
6
votes
5
answers
769
views
Could an earth like planet turn into Venus and then back again?
So, I have an Earthlike planet with a healthy biosphere, and I need to completely reset all complex life on it. Near as I can tell, one way to do this is by totally destroying the atmosphere (after ...
- 5,807
6
votes
3
answers
643
views
Maximum number of earth-like planets in a system
I am trying to build a planetary system with a maximum number of earth/near earth like planets/moons. What would the maximum number of possible earth like planets be?
I am assuming that some would ...
- 61
6
votes
3
answers
648
views
Seasonal progression for an Earth-like planet with wobbly axis tilt?
I'll try to keep this question as concise as I can, but I'm not great with technical jargon, so a simplified answer would be greatly appreciated.
Here's the set up:
I have binary star system with ...
- 489
6
votes
3
answers
635
views
Could there be an upside down hurricane on a gaseous super-Earth
I wrote a novel based on a human civilization that lives floating cities and dirigibles on a small, atmosphere-abundant super-Earth with a liquid water core (there's a smaller solid core under that, ...
- 2,904