Questions tagged [stars]
For questions about luminous spheres of plasma held together by their own gravity, generally comprised primarily of hydrogen and helium.
272
questions
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1answer
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I need help with the math of this Binary star system
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 ...
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4answers
91 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 ...
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1answer
42 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 ...
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1answer
36 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....
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2answers
139 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 ...
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1answer
179 views
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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 ...
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17answers
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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 ...
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1answer
68 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 ...
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2answers
113 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 ...
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5answers
342 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 ...
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3answers
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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 ...
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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 ...
5
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1answer
150 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 ...
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1answer
81 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 ...
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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! :...
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2answers
111 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
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1answer
107 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, ...
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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 ...
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4answers
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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?
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2answers
74 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
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1answer
51 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
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7answers
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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
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3answers
184 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 ...
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5answers
384 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
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2answers
235 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 ...
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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 ...
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3answers
268 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 ...
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3answers
217 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
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2answers
483 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 ...
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0answers
188 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
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1answer
107 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, ...
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1answer
166 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 ...
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3answers
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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
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2answers
416 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 ...
6
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1answer
217 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 ...
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0answers
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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 ...
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5answers
831 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 ...
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1answer
67 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 ...
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8answers
6k views
How much damage would a cupful of neutron star matter do to the Earth?
Suppose we used SCP-261, the vending machine that produces anything, and ask for a cup of neutron star. The machine instantaneously produces this.
Suppose also that the vending machine is located at ...
7
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1answer
103 views
Visibility of a Red Dwarf Companion Star
An interstellar traveller stands upon the surface of an alien planet beneath the light of an unfamiliar sun. The planet upon which he stands orbits one star of a binary system in which one is a G-...
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3answers
271 views
Use bomb to detonate a white dwarf?
Suppose there is a Sirius A based alien civilization, but their planet is heavily defended, so direct attack is useless. Could we use some kind of weapon to detonate the Sirius B and cause a disaster ...
3
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5answers
299 views
How can this habitable planet have a moon with a naturally occurring atmosphere?
Assuming the planet is earth-like, with more surface water and atmospheric oxygen, and within the habitable zone of a sun-like star, how can a moon orbiting this planet retain a thick atmosphere?
The ...
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1answer
107 views
Effects of Red Dwarf CME (Flare) on Biological Life and Atmosphere
I have a planet circling an M-Class star (M3/M4). I'm trying to figure out what the effects of flaring on the planet's biosphere might be.
Background: As some of you may know, M-class stars are ...
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1answer
134 views
Longest possible eclipse in double star system
I have a planetary system that consists of two close stars:
A Sun-like star - small but bright
A much larger, but much darker star (about 5-10 times larger)
A habitable planet orbiting both of the ...
5
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3answers
1k views
What is the Habitable Zone of a Red Dwarf star?
This question is pretty straightforward:
What is the minimum and maximum distance for a planet to be in the habitable zone of an average sized (not biggest, not smallest) Red Dwarf star?
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5answers
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Distance between star systems
I'm writing a story that will eventually escalate from being focused on one planet to the entire star system that planet belongs to, and finally to a big story involving the two nearest star systems ...
6
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2answers
338 views
Planet Orbiting a Red Dwarf
I'm trying to create my planet orbiting a red dwarf, honestly I've thought other scenarios but it's like every answer opens new questions. I'll just say what I want my planet to be and I'd like your ...
8
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2answers
206 views
Can I arrange my stars in a tetrahedron?
Inspired by this question:
Consider a trinary star system, in which the three stars are arranged in an xy plane and all revolving the same direction, equidistant from each other. The inward pull of ...
5
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1answer
185 views
Explaining a Low-Mass Brown Dwarf
Considering the well-established relationships between stellar mass, surface temp, and luminosity, how unusual would it be to find a star (or brown dwarf) that possesses about half the mass of an ...
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7answers
6k views
Is a solar system around a black hole possible?
Is it possible for there to be a "solar system" of sorts with a black hole and a few suns orbiting around it?
Could that system be stable and (if so) would it be possible for some civilization(s) to ...
