Questions tagged [stars]
For questions about luminous spheres of plasma held together by their own gravity, generally comprised primarily of hydrogen and helium.
284
questions
6
votes
1answer
117 views
The Earth and Moon resolidify under a bluer star, their outer layers evaporated and burned away. What do they look like now?
(This is the third in a series of questions, starting with Moved into further orbits to protect them, how much damage do Earth and Moon take when the Sun expands? and How soon does the Earth's ...
7
votes
2answers
141 views
Randomly generating plausible star types for a synthetic galaxy?
I'd like to randomly generate between 1 and 20 million stars for a spiral galaxy resembling our Milky Way. This is of course far fewer than our galaxy (estimated between 150 to 300 billion), but I'd ...
7
votes
2answers
288 views
How soon does the Earth's surface re-solidify after the red-giant Sun is replaced with a different star?
(Note: This is a follow-up question to my previous one: Moved into further orbits to protect them, how much damage do Earth and Moon take when the Sun expands?)
Thanks to clever stellar engineering ...
4
votes
1answer
266 views
In a Red Giant Binary System, How Far and How Wide Can the Habitable Zone Be?
Our estimates of our own habitable zone--a piece of space in which liquid water is possible--have varied over the years, but the current estimate is by Ramirez and Kaltenegger in 2017. Based on an ...
9
votes
6answers
740 views
Could a mass made up of certain elements or compounds “disrupt” a star?
Inspired by this interesting question-- let's say that the universe was just really, really out to get a particular star, such as our sun. Is there a perfect cocktail where a mass significantly ...
6
votes
8answers
301 views
How could sentient stars work?
I'm considering making one "creature" that is encountered in a story a sentient star in an alternate universe. I hope to hand-wave a little of the more complicated stuff by saying "this universe's ...
3
votes
1answer
148 views
When will the last white dwarfs become black dwarfs?
I want my planet to be the last planet in a universe to host life forms. I expect a rough estimation as answer.
Thanks.
8
votes
2answers
1k views
Could bacteria survive on a star?
If the right requirements are met, could bacteria survive on the Sun?
The bacteria would spend most of their time in hibernation and reproducing, and when the time comes, they spread out on plasma ...
-2
votes
2answers
204 views
How long would it take to eat the Sun?
Premise: Space lab is working on making synthetic cells out of different materials. Experiments are classified as too dangerous to be disposed of with conventional means, and are set on an collision ...
2
votes
3answers
129 views
Synthesization of a star?
Would it be possible to put hydrogen into a vacuum chamber and use something to turn it into a smaller version of a star? I am making a scene with a simulated planet environment in space and wanted ...
4
votes
1answer
91 views
How bright is the night with 18-22 AU distant star?
In my previous question, I asked about how close can two stars in a binary system be for planets around them to stay earthlike, assuming that both stars have very sunlike and both planets very ...
-2
votes
1answer
61 views
Binary star system i need help finding habitable zone [duplicate]
I have revamped my queshton a 3th time so i can get my ansure. The last 2 times i forgot something or got my math wrong. so i hope i got it all and got my math right, third times a charm. I have a ...
1
vote
1answer
119 views
I need help with the math of this Binary star system [duplicate]
I have talked before about this system in one of my other questions. I have figured out some more info about the planets/stars. I want to know where is the habitable zone and any other info you can ...
7
votes
4answers
171 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
votes
2answers
106 views
How would the strong magnetic field of a white dwarf affect humans inhabiting a planet that orbits such a star?
Magnetic white dwarfs (MWD) comprise almost 2 % of all white dwarfs and they are characterized by having a strong magnetic field, whose strength varies between 1 T and 100 kT. Compared to the Earth's ...
-1
votes
2answers
90 views
How would a binary star system with a planet with 2 moons work? If possible
I am creating a solar system that has a binary star system. The system has 3 planets. The closest being like Mercury. The next being the planet that supports life and being slightly larger then earth....
6
votes
2answers
153 views
Life without a bright star?
The main source of free energy that allowed life on Earth to develop was our sun. It bombards the planet’s surface with photons of high energy, which provide activation energy for reactions necessary ...
8
votes
1answer
219 views
How much of a star can be covered in starspots?
Many stars, including the Sun, periodically display starspots, cooler areas of the surface associated with higher local concentrations of the stellar magnetic field. They can sometimes be a couple ...
27
votes
17answers
8k views
Is there any conceivable way to “turn off” a star?
In my world, a group of "lamplighters" seek to turn off unused stars to conserve the energy for later use. This serves a few purposes, but mainly:
It delays the heat-death of the Universe to some ...
1
vote
1answer
77 views
What Star would encourage what color of plants? or, a table of star types to the most efficient plant color [duplicate]
Using the following list of stars, what color is the most efficient for plants to absorb the ideal amount of energy?
(This is not a complete list of star types, just some big examples)
Yellow Dwarf ...
2
votes
2answers
116 views
What kind of star will work for my system?
After what feels like forever and after asking several questions (like this, this and this), I believe I may have decided upon a suitable orbital system for my world:
$M_{S}=2.272\;571\;144\;5 \times ...
6
votes
5answers
366 views
What star can give an earth-like planet a 1-day year?
I did the orbital period for a planet orbiting a mass = 1 sol with a 24-hour year, it’s got a semi-major axis of 1.82 million miles - far and away beyond the Roche limit, still beyond the corona, but ...
10
votes
3answers
1k views
How to mine a star?
Things like Dyson spheres need a whole lot of raw material, which is rather difficult to come by, since the elements needed for good structural steel are scattered fairly thinly into the universe upon ...
11
votes
9answers
2k views
What element, if any, would justify mining stars (financially)?
Alright so in my sci-fi a prominent corporation dominated by the Borlak species (Mantis-like Hexapods). The Borlak make their money by mining "dead systems", solar systems without any habitable ...
asked Oct 25 '19 at 13:36
Celestial Dragon Emperor
10.2k4 gold badges36 silver badges79 bronze badges
5
votes
1answer
156 views
If someone dropped a black hole into the Sun, when and how will we notice it?
Suppose someone dropped a black hole into our lovely Sun a few million years ago. It was big enough (far bigger than that) from the start to eat matter faster than radiating it away, and kept growing ...
2
votes
1answer
86 views
How would the world be different if we orbited a different star to our Sun? [closed]
I was reading this article on stars that are just right for the formation of habitable planets, and I was interested in what it had to say about K stars. Here is an except so you can read for ...
27
votes
8answers
7k views
What elements would be created in a star composed entirely of gold?
I'm working with the idea of creating a sun made out of pure gold. Of course, this would be completely man-made. Why would anyone want to do this? Because I want a cool concept like that in my story! :...
1
vote
2answers
114 views
Can an Unstable Ternary Star System Last Several Hundred Years?
After reading the following question, I know that there are not that many solutions to the 3-body problem, and I know that a ternary system is unstable. The 3 stars all orbit each other in a rotating ...
8
votes
1answer
117 views
What color would plants orbiting a white dwarf have?
So, let's say there's a white dwarf star that has recently been born (by recently, let's say about 3 million years ago) Now around that time, a rogue planet, about the same size and mass as earth, ...
58
votes
12answers
12k views
If every star in the universe except the Sun were destroyed, would we die?
If every star and planetary system and blackhole—all mass (not sure whether to include dark matter or not) except what directly makes up our solar system—in the Universe except the Sun were wiped from ...
3
votes
4answers
205 views
Can a planet orbit two stars, the first sun being like Earth's Sun, the second and larger star only visible from the planet around the horizon?
My planet orbits two suns. The orbit of the first sun is similar to Earths orbit around our sun. The orbit around the second sun however makes it appears only around the horizon. Is this possible?
2
votes
2answers
77 views
How is the visual luminosity of a star calculated?
My idea is a planet that orbits a red dwarf at a distance in which the apparent magnitude of this seen from the planet is the same as that of the sun seen from Earth. Does this mean that the daylight ...
4
votes
1answer
53 views
A Stable Red Giant Trinary System
In an alternate universe, we have a spot in the Orion Arm where we have nine Earth-like planets orbiting three red giants. Judging from the size and luminosity of each star, it's been conferred that ...
19
votes
7answers
6k views
A continuous water “planet” ring around a star
It is impossible to have a continuous mostly liquid water ring around a star?
Probably such a configuration would be unstable under normal planetary forming condition. I am looking for a good ...
3
votes
3answers
192 views
Which Stars Would Best Suit For the Habitable Zone of The Nine Norse Earths?
In an alternate universe, the nine realms of Norse mythology--Midgard, Asgard, Vanaheimr, Jotunheimr, Alfheimr, Hel, Nidavellir, Niflheim and Museplheim--are actual, real-life "Earths", in the sense ...
9
votes
5answers
387 views
What sort of solar system / atmospheric conditions, if any, would allow for a very cold planet that still receives plenty of light from its sun?
The setting I'm interested in would involve a cold planet (cold enough for most bodies of water to be frozen - I'm thinking of an average global temperature of -20C or below). The simplest way would ...
7
votes
2answers
249 views
Life around Cepheid Variable stars
Are there any unique challenges life would face evolving on a planet orbiting a Cepheid Variable star? I'm aware this is a broad question, so to narrow it down, consider this a question about Great ...
49
votes
20answers
12k views
Killing a star safely
A messenger from the stars just arrived in peace but has brought horrible news.
A vast swarm of planet devouring phototropic insects are approaching from deep space and our only hope is to obscure or ...
5
votes
3answers
282 views
Can you prevent a star from dying with infinite energy?
In my story, an advanced alien civilization that can travel to other universes has created an infinite energy source, named "an amvelian core". This core resembles a small sphere in appearance (about ...
1
vote
3answers
229 views
In Search of a Super-Bright, Super-Stable Star
Long ago, I asked a question on how to make possible turning the nine realms of Norse mythology--Midgard, Asgard, Vanaheimr, Jotunheimr, Alfheimr, Hel, Nidavellir, Niflheim and Museplheim--into nine ...
9
votes
2answers
521 views
What is the theoretical maximum number of habitable planets in one solar system?
In the DC comic book universe, the Vega System is a solar system around the star Vega (Alpha Lyrae), which is depicted as having dozens of habitable planets. While it seems to be an implausibly large ...
3
votes
0answers
189 views
Can a system of 10 planets be stable if star is not on the main sequence? [closed]
My star is 2.17 Solar masses. For narrative purposes, I decided this so it will collapse in the theoretical Quark star. Could such a big star that isn't on the main sequence (Because it is class A, ...
4
votes
1answer
108 views
How Far Can The Stars Ve and Vili Orbit The Main One, Odin?
In this solar system, there are three K-type main sequence stars, or "orange dwarves", named Odin, Vili and Ve. At the center of this solar system, Odin is 80% the mass of our sun. The middle star, ...
5
votes
1answer
170 views
How might star formation work in a universe similar to the one described in the orthogonal series?
In our universe, in order for a cloud of gas to collapse into a star it needs to release heat energy in the form of radiation, so that it can cool down enough to collapse into a star.
I read what ...
15
votes
3answers
1k views
Hiding a solar system in a nebula
I have a planetary system with a yellow dwarf similar to our own Sun and three habitable planets. I want to hide this system from sight and long range scans in a nebula, a giant cloud of dust and gas ...
7
votes
2answers
445 views
How would our skies look if our sun was a white dwarf instead?
What I'm using your information for:
My planet is small, has a thicker atmosphere than earth and it's orbiting a white dwarf. The main reason I chose it to be a white dwarf is that I read somewhere ...
7
votes
1answer
229 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 ...
56
votes
0answers
2k views
How soon can the first stars form?
Introduction
In our universe, the cosmic microwave background was formed approximately 400,000 years after the Big Bang. It was hot, but within a few million years after the Big Bang, it would no ...
8
votes
5answers
835 views
Can you make a star from other gases, and how long would they last?
In my Conworld, the inhabitants have discovered a type of star they cannot identify. I would like it to be a star made not from just hydrogen and helium, like our sun and countless others. But my ...
0
votes
1answer
71 views
Plausibility of “diamond”-like crystal and/or mineral substances forming on a planet orbiting a dwarf star
Alright, so the primary inspiration for this is 55 Cancri e, the speculated carbon "diamond world" and to a degree, Nkllon, a planet in Star Wars that is essentially what Cancri is, but "confirmed" to ...
