Questions tagged [stars]
For questions about luminous spheres of plasma held together by their own gravity, generally comprised primarily of hydrogen and helium.
308
questions
10
votes
3answers
2k views
What would a Rainbow look like on an earth-like Planet orbiting a Red Sun?
Okay, so in my setting I'm writing, the planet is very earth-like, similar atmosphere, liquid water exists, etc.. But the planet orbits a red giant. I've done a lot of fiddling around with various ...
3
votes
0answers
66 views
Is this a decent description of the process for an interstellar drive based on this handwavium/element zero?
My story needs four variations of an interstellar drive that uses exotic matter (detailed below). I know what the processes need to do, side effects of using them, etc. but explaining them/showing ...
0
votes
2answers
97 views
Would an elecroweak star radiate similarly to a normal star? If so, would a habitable zone around it even be possible?
An electroweak star is a theoretical exotic star in which the radiation pressure from its core keeps it from collapsing into a black hole. Because of its theoretical nature, it's hard to find a lot of ...
3
votes
1answer
78 views
How Big Can the Habitable Zone Be in a G-Type Binary System?
Here's the basic setup:
There is a binary solar system somewhere in an elliptical galaxy (said to be more suitable for habitability than spiral galaxies like our Milky Way.) The first star is a G-...
4
votes
0answers
44 views
Equations for developing a hypothetical Solar System [duplicate]
I am currently going down the rabbit hole of writing a story but I would like it to be set in a universe which is believable. Therefore I am trying to create a hypothetical solar system in which the ...
5
votes
7answers
664 views
How to make other stars visible to the naked eye in the day sky
In my world each person has the ability to call upon the power of a star; using it to further whatever end they’d want—i.e. using the sun’s energy to power a spell. However, they can ONLY call upon ...
9
votes
2answers
248 views
Could a world be dominated by white seas?
I have this idea for a world orbiting a type O star, a particularly active kind of star producing intense radiation. As a form of adaptation, the microbial life has become bright white so to reflect ...
3
votes
1answer
92 views
Distance required for a Red Giant Star to have an apparent magnitude of -13
Assume this Red Giant has the properties of Aldebaran (α Tauri in constellation Taurus) with an absolute visual magnitude of −0.641M. How far would it have to be from Earth in order to possess an ...
-3
votes
1answer
130 views
What is it like inside the sun? [closed]
In a freak chance of events, a spaceship is stranded in the sun, and the crew and ship is miraculously unharmed. After an attempted suicide, the crew realizes that through the same chance that put ...
7
votes
3answers
299 views
Why don't Sci-fi stories draw energy directly from their stars using wormholes/FTL devices? [closed]
Science fiction is full of devices allowing people to open portals to other worlds, teleport, open wormholes, etc. but there are only subtle discussions about tapping into the sun or other stars with ...
3
votes
2answers
156 views
Replacing Jupiter with a small star
Earth orbits between the Sun and the massive planet Jupiter.
My question involves a similar set-up except that Jupiter is replaced by a small star.
Here's a size comparison between Sol, Jupiter, and ...
asked Jul 23 at 18:56
chasly - supports Monica
37.9k12 gold badges119 silver badges238 bronze badges
2
votes
2answers
102 views
How would day and night look like on a planet that orbits two suns? [duplicate]
I'm writing a fantasy story set in a p-type circumbinary system and I'd like to know how this would affect day and night, when the suns and moon would be visible, and the climate and seasons on the ...
71
votes
13answers
15k views
Is using the Sun as a sort of 'garbage dump' safe?
Is it safe for my civilization to launch rockets full of hazardous material into the Sun? This question applies to all stars, really, not just the sun.
By hazardous materials, I mainly mean ...
6
votes
2answers
160 views
How can I depict the stars as if looking up from a specific planet not in our solar system?
I'd like to create a realistic starscape for an extant planet, ideally with seasonal tilt change like on Earth. While I realize I can just make it up (and will probably do so if I can't figure out how ...
28
votes
6answers
5k views
Exactly how far apart are nearby stars from one another? [duplicate]
I am working on a hard(ish) science fiction space opera story, and I would like to get a good handle on distances between stars so that I can calculate appropriate travel times. There are a lot of ...
4
votes
1answer
105 views
What impact would a white dwarf-neutron star collision have on a civilization on a planet orbiting the white dwarf?
An advanced civilization lives on an Earth-like planet orbiting a white dwarf. Their star is on a collision course with a neutron star. I imagine this collision will cause a supernova, which will ...
6
votes
2answers
195 views
Different human-survivable universes
If humans had the ability to physically travel to a universe similar to our own, how different could its fundamental constants be and still allow humans and other terran life to survive there long-...
1
vote
3answers
170 views
What kind of power could be stronger than light and shadow? [closed]
I am creating a world where exist 2 main types of magic users: the ones with the ability to control the light of the sun and the ones with the ability to control the darkness of the shadows/moon. ...
6
votes
4answers
310 views
What would make a star good for star lifting?
My civilization is planning to being starlifting, mining a star by heating up portions of its surface and using a powerful magnetic field to channel the matter away from the star and into storage ...
11
votes
1answer
338 views
What sets of stellar models are freely available for reference when worldbuilding?
Often, when I'm building a world, I want to start out by determining some of its key properties. Maybe I'm trying to calculate a habitable zone, or figure out how long a year would be on a particular ...
6
votes
1answer
244 views
I can't seem to find correct starbuilding equations that work together anywhere and am generally confused. Which ones do you use?
So far I've been using Artifexian's How To Build A Star YouTube video. The problem with this video is that it's quite old and thus outdated. The things I've noticed to be particularly weird are the ...
4
votes
1answer
157 views
Can the color of an alien sky be calculated solely from atmospheric composition and the star's (or stars') spectral type(s)?
What exactly are the relevant numbers for such a calculation, and can it account for the color of the sky?
By sky color, I mean the day to day hue that humans (or something else with very similar ...
3
votes
3answers
113 views
Would these processes be probable on this planet?
Background
This planet, located somewhere in the Andromeda galaxy, orbits a M5V star about 0.682764 AU away from its star. The planet is volcanically active due to the gravitational field of the ...
3
votes
3answers
193 views
How to explain a planet around a K-Type star with Orange/Red/Purple plants?
Basically, in a sci-fi roleplaying group I am apart of, I have began to work on a long-standing human colony world. The tech-level is pretty much bog-standard sci-fi, and such, colonisation is ...
6
votes
1answer
171 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
159 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
333 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
287 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
753 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 ...
9
votes
9answers
559 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
181 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
226 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
137 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
110 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
73 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
127 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
194 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
147 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
124 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
164 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
226 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 ...
28
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
188 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
131 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
394 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 ...
10
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
10.4k4 gold badges37 silver badges80 bronze badges
5
votes
1answer
169 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
104 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 ...
