For questions about luminous spheres of plasma held together by their own gravity, generally comprised primarily of hydrogen and helium.
4
votes
4answers
198 views
How would an advanced alien race go about preventing their sun from dying?
I'm currently designing an advanced alien race that has found a way to prevent its host star from dying. But I'm not sure how exactly would that happen.
So my question is, "How could you prevent the ...
8
votes
2answers
229 views
Would it be possible to create an artificial iron star?
I ran a quick calculation, and the mass of iron required to form a black hole is on the order of 10^40kg. So, suppose that in my story there is this almost much iron available to somehow be brought ...
10
votes
1answer
99 views
Increased Luminosity in Stars
I'm trying to construct a solar system, and I'm toying with the idea that the planet capable of sustaining life was initially outside of the habitable zone, but the star's advanced age has caused the ...
4
votes
1answer
144 views
Would this simplex ternary system be stable?
I'm trying to make a trinary star system but I'm not sure how it would work. The primary star is an M0Ve star (red dwarf flare star). The orbits of the other two stars are slightly more complicated. ...
18
votes
6answers
388 views
Can my spaceship figure out its position using Cepheid Variables?
In my story, reasonably far in the future, an intrepid group of explorers are on the first manned mission to the Andromeda galaxy, travelling close to the speed of light. They slumbered in suspended ...
6
votes
1answer
174 views
A self-eclipsing orbital ring
A common, matter-efficient science-fiction habitat is a hollow cylinder or ring in space that is spun to simulate the pull of gravity on its interior surface. These habitats have been imagined as ...
10
votes
3answers
214 views
How can the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram be used in star building?
As you can probably guess from the title, I have some questions about the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, especially how to use it to make plausible stars.
Some questions:
Can stars exist in the black ...
15
votes
5answers
3k views
How can I make a black dwarf star?
In response to a question about an asteroid filled with degenerate matter, Ender Look suggested that using matter from a black dwarf would be better than using matter from a white dwarf since black ...
4
votes
1answer
82 views
Visibility of second star in S-type system
So in my world there is a planet orbiting a star, which is in a far binary system with another star. Is there any formula to calculate when the distant star would be visible - times of year and/or day?...
10
votes
2answers
175 views
Dozens of Habitable Worlds in One System?
I want to know if this is physically possible. So at first I thought I was nuts. Then I started reading about Hill Radii, and googled left and right. Turns out a Hill Sphere is the region around an ...
11
votes
3answers
379 views
How to estimate a star's heliopause?
Is it possible to calculate/estimate the size of a star's heliosphere? If so, how?
I am working on a semi-near future, sci-fi novel. As part of the technology base, humans are able to travel between ...
2
votes
2answers
153 views
How many habitable planets can I fit into the habitable zone of a Sun-like star and still be stable? [duplicate]
The habitable planets will be very similar in size to earth and are on separate orbits orbiting a Sun-like star exactly the size of our own Sun. How many habitable planets can I fit into the habitable ...
0
votes
4answers
53 views
Optimal arrangement for habitable zones?
So, here's my issue.
My setting's central conceit is that a myriad of human societies developed at relatively concurrent times across a large system separated by only a few light-hours. (There are, of ...
11
votes
1answer
206 views
Could the Sun be born again?
About 5 billion years from now, the Sun will begin to swell into a red giant. This will cause some problems, because life on a planet orbiting a red giant is hard. Even if Earth isn't engulfed by the ...
13
votes
3answers
1k views
Can two stars orbit each other but each have their own planets in stable orbits?
I'm aware that 'tatooine' worlds don't make good habits for planets, normally. From what I've read, either a planet has to orbit one star really closely, or orbit both stars from a really long ...
3
votes
5answers
7k views
How to make an Earth with 27 suns work [duplicate]
Viability of Many Suns
This is the first of a thread of related posts on a hypothetical alternate universe/Light Plane.
Other posts from this thread are here:
How To Make an Earth with 27 Suns Work,...
2
votes
1answer
84 views
A K-Type Binary Dawn/Dusk in the Equator
In this alternate scenario, Earth is the third planet in a binary star system. One star is a K-type main sequence star--or "orange dwarf"--that has 80% the mass of a G-type main sequence star--or "...
8
votes
1answer
129 views
Would it be possible to farm the energy from pulsars?
From what I can tell, pulsars emit light in beams from the poles of the pulsar. Would it be possible to construct something to get energy from a pulsar's beams of radiation? Or is this as idiotic of ...
1
vote
1answer
170 views
Earth Orbits a K-Type Star. What Would the Visual Scenery Look Like?
To clarify on the title, K-type main-sequence stars--shortened as "orange dwarves"--are subjects of excitement for astronomers and astrobiologists.
Why?
They emit enough radiation to provide a ...
3
votes
1answer
176 views
Is a supernova powerful to destroy the other star in a binary system?
So, you have the big bad race, whose extermination method is basically to force stars to go supercritical via the power of handwavium. You can assume 1 solar mass for each, but you can change it if ...
6
votes
3answers
142 views
Life in the water/snow line of a protoplanetary accretion disc?
So I was reading this article recently, titled Stellar Outburst Brings Water Snow Line into View: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1626. In short it's about a protoplanetary accretion disc around a ...
5
votes
1answer
105 views
Can I see my secondary star?
I have a binary star system and have come up with some stats for it.
My primary star is an F-type, with a mass of 1.3 sols and a luminosity of 2.197 sols. My secondary star is a K-type, with a mass ...
0
votes
4answers
284 views
Star system that isn't the Sun: words for “sunlight”
Language revolving around the Sun would probably not be used on a planet with a different star, right? For example, if a planet was orbiting Sirius, "siriuslight" or "siriusburn" seems a tad clunky, ...
9
votes
2answers
105 views
Can a fission satellite duplicate the radiance frequencies of a star?
I sometimes think about the arrogant dwarf starsmiths in the question.
How to blow up a star by accident?
I pose the question in the voice of the dwarf, probably because I am hungry for down votes.
...
8
votes
4answers
224 views
References to evil star myths?
I'm in a D&D campaign where astronomy plays a big deal. I want to name drop and reference some good astrology myths about evil or cursed stars, but I'm having an awful time finding anything. The ...
0
votes
2answers
193 views
A new approach on multi-star solar system [closed]
The most common concepts of multi-star systems, it seems to me, are either unrealistic / impossible OR do not have the "feeling" of a multi-star system commonly depicted in films etc., i.e. multiple ...
3
votes
2answers
175 views
Habitable planet in a multistar system
I'm trying to design a world in the Alcyone A system of the Pleiades.
Alcyone A consists of three stars. The main star is 3.4-3.8 solar masses.
There is a very low mass star < 15 million miles ...
5
votes
9answers
502 views
How to destroy a star system?
The admiral of a space fleet that belongs to a Type 3 civilization has been given orders to obliterate all planets within the habitable zone of a Sun like star.
Some of the planets have been ...
13
votes
2answers
344 views
What would happen if 10^37 J of energy was dumped into the sun via antimatter detonation?
My first post here, and it's more about destroying worlds than making them.
Consider this scenario:
An earthlike planet where a powerful magic spell has been cast, protecting all positrons from ...
5
votes
1answer
162 views
How would a colliding binary affect its planetary system?
The scenario is based on the fact that a tight binary of two neutron stars does not hold for long: The two bodies lose energy in the form of gravitational waves and they spiral towards each other and ...
0
votes
2answers
198 views
What could be done to make a red dwarf become a blue dwarf, then a white dwarf and then finally a black dwarf in a short amount of time?
My civilization is highly advanced Type III and wants to conduct an experiment on a red dwarf. They want to artificially cause it to become a blue dwarf, then a white dwarf and then finally a black ...
5
votes
3answers
455 views
Could I make this dark and eerie world possible?
The inspiration came from the music in the title sequence of the film Alien. The idea is a planet that humans have colonized where it's almost always drizzling slightly. It's always dark but there is ...
6
votes
1answer
167 views
Is the temperature on my planet affected whenever my binary stars are aligned?
Here I began exploring appearances of binary stars when standing on a planet. The planet orbits both stars.
I've established through the help of this community that there are times that the two ...
1
vote
2answers
69 views
Would lensing make stars in a binary system appear further apart at sunset?
I am revising my first draft and trying to add more evocative details.
Here, I asked whether stars in a binary system are likely to fall on the ecliptic.
As my hero hikes through the day and suns ...
0
votes
1answer
221 views
How would life be on Earth if the Sun was replaced a binary star system? [closed]
Assuming an identical Solar system except for the strange sun(s) and that
the binary star system's barycentre coincides with the Sun's centre of mass
mass of the combined star system is equal to the ...
2
votes
9answers
289 views
Binary star system, What time is it?
You are native to a planet that falls between two suns, thus ensuring eternal sunshine.
How would we be able to tell the time? Do you formulate some kind of system based on which sun is in the sky at ...
3
votes
2answers
152 views
Is It Possible to Establish a Human Colony in a Flare Star System?
I am thinking about using Groombridge 1618 as a setting for my world. It is a main sequence star of spectral type K7.5 Ve, 67% of the Sun's mass. The habitable zone is at a radius of 0.26–0.56 AU. ...
-1
votes
2answers
147 views
Neutron star “evolution”, how do neutron stars die? [closed]
According to this Neutron Stars start out composed of the same material as White Dwarves, combinations of Helium, Oxygen, Carbon, Neon, Magnesium, and possibly Iron before undergoing gravitational ...
2
votes
5answers
211 views
Is my celestial coordinate system efficient?
I want to know whether or not my starship's cordinate system is efficient or not. Soon after my race flew into the stars, we realised we needed to be able to tell where we were. We need coordinate ...
6
votes
1answer
93 views
Defining the perceived appearance of a moon from a planetary surface
I have a homebrew setting with a moon that has some specific features orbiting an Earth sized planet, and I'm trying to find out how these features would affect how the moon looks from the surface of ...
5
votes
2answers
159 views
Do stars in a binary star system fall along the ecliptic?
I am wondering about Tatooine, and was reading about binary systems here, which provided a lot of good basic food for thought. My specific question is not addressed at that link, and so I pose it here....
1
vote
1answer
180 views
What would a life form that evolved in deep space and without gravity look like? [closed]
Somehow the following hypothetical life form evolved in deep space with a long lifetime. It lives in a low orbit around massive stars, reproduces by eating interstellar gas and dust and uses the ...
4
votes
2answers
251 views
Could life on earth survive after the sun becomes a white dwarf?
It's my first time writing an original story and I have this idea, but I don't know if it could be scientifically feasible. My story would be medieval fantasy with magic, but I wanted to add a twist ...
4
votes
2answers
145 views
How to calculate the light received by a planet during a binary star eclipse?
I'm building up a spreadsheet on worldbuilding (Stars, Planets, Moons etc.) and i'm struggling to find an equation, or a group of equations to help me figure out the light received by a planet ...
2
votes
1answer
136 views
Calculating the orbits of binary stars around their barycentre
I've been building a world, partly for test reasons (making sure my spreadsheet works, and so i know what i need to add to it) and partly for fun, but for calender reasons i need to know the orbital ...
3
votes
9answers
295 views
Force Field Contains a Star
How would you contain a small star in order to draw energy from it, and power a ship? I'm thinking along the lines of a force field. I need the star visible from the exterior of the ship for ...
3
votes
4answers
289 views
Is a 1:1 Earth possible in a binary system?
I'm trying to build as close to a 1:1 Earth as possible, but finding information on a non-jovian moon-based planet is extremely hard to find. I tend to ramble trying to explain things in a non-list ...
4
votes
5answers
327 views
Is a star orbiting around planets(not a single planet) possible?
I'm trying to construct a habitable world which has a sun orbiting around it. I know a star can't orbit around a planet, because a star is much more massive than a single planet, which has been known ...
-6
votes
1answer
299 views
The 12 Zodiac Elements (magic-casting chart idea) [closed]
12 Zodiac Elements (Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Cardinal, Fixed, & Mutable)
Recently I've had the idea to make my elemental magic chart for one of my fantasy stories based off the Zodiac's ...
30
votes
5answers
5k views
How would one go about making a star map for a planet that is within 50 ly of Earth?
I have a planetary system orbiting the star 18 Scorpii, 45.3 ly from Earth, and I would like to create a stellar map for it. My search for software showing the constellations from other stars has come ...
