Questions tagged [stars]
For questions about luminous spheres of plasma held together by their own gravity, generally comprised primarily of hydrogen and helium.
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Climate of a Planet in a Binary Star System
Would the climate of a planet in a binary star system consisting of a K star and a G star be affected by the binary system? By this I mean, does having two stars at the center of a solar system affect ...
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In this infant (<500 million years) solar system, how far would each orbit be to be stable?
Here's the story: There is a solar system that is still a baby, less than 500 million years old.
There are a total of eight stars clumped into four binaries, each one with its own habitable zone. ...
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2answers
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Maps of star clusters
Inside star clusters, there are regions where stars are within 1 light year of each other. I wish to create a sci-fi setting in one of these regions. To start, I have tried to find maps/charts of ...
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3answers
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Is the following plausible: a moon at an L1 point orbits a gas giant, which orbits a sun. the moon is submerged in half daylight half moonlight
I'm writing a sci-fi & fantasy novel, I won't get into details, but in essence it's set on a fantasy moon that orbits a gas giant, which orbits a sun. The moon is at an L1 (Lagrange 1) point, and ...
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2answers
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Is it plausible for a planet to have a face constantly sunlit while the other is constantly moonlit, with the sun/moonlit territories never changing?
I'm writing a sci-fi & fantasy novel, I won't get into details, but in essence it's set on a fantasy planet that orbits around a sun, and has a moon. The basic premise (that I'm hoping for anyway) ...
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3answers
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Could there be a star where humans could survive for a short time?
This honestly sounds like it's basically impossible, but here we go anyway.
We've picked up a strange reading from a spot orbiting a star in a system elsewhere in the Milky Way galaxy. We've come into ...
4
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1answer
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What environment do I need for gluonium entities to thrive in?
Gluons are the particles that hold quarks together. The way they do this allows them to hold each other together in the form of gluonium.
Gluonium only appears at high temperatures such as those ...
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6answers
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Can a planet move itself?
Most questions in this vein seem to center around the inhabitants of a planet moving it. I have a significantly different spin on this idea, though.
So, you're a big ball of rock spinning around a ...
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3answers
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What is the largest possible appearance of a celestial body in the sky?
In SciFi Art we often see planets/moons/stars fill enormous amounts of the visible sky. I'm wondering what the theoretical limit for this is realistically, since there are maxima for the possible size ...
2
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1answer
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Rocheworlds mass
Suppose you've got two tidally-locked planets, each one orbiting its own red dwarf. With two red dwarfs to hold the planets, could the planets get close enough to share atmospheres? And how would you ...
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1answer
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Climate in a S-type orbit planet in a binary star system
I made a planet orbiting (S-type orbit) a K-type star in a binary system; the other star is F-type.
Star
F-type
K-type
Mass
1.3 M☉ or 2.6x1030 kg
0.7 M☉ or 1x1030 kg
Radius
1.14 R☉ or 0.8x109 m
0....
7
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2answers
691 views
How would I make a natural, long-lived red giant star?
I have a system in which the main habitable planets are on the many moons of a super-neptune. The ice giant has not migrated inwards, but rather the habitable zone has expanded outwards due to the red ...
0
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1answer
83 views
Would Sean Raymond's “Ultimate Solar System” Work in This Particular System?
Presented here is a system in which a binary of orange dwarves orbits a binary of yellow dwarves. Each yellow dwarf is 105% as wide, 110% as massive and 126% as bright as our sun. Each orange dwarf ...
0
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1answer
119 views
Is a Gamma Ray Burst Cannon possible? (G.R.B.C. Part 1/2)
Now, for a little context, L.G.R.B.C.s, or Lesser Gamma Ray Burst Cannons, are extremely powerful weapons that are used almost exclusively by the Karan, a race of religious automatons that wish to ...
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6answers
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A Habitable Zone Within a Habitable Zone--Would that Make any Difference?
Presented here is a quaternary solar system consisting of two binary orbits. One consists of two red giants, each one 100 times as wide, one-third as massive and 100 times as bright as our sun. Both ...
0
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1answer
103 views
Alternative earth-like planet environment that supports human life
So i want to create a planet that supports human life. Primarily, i would need to consider a star type, an atmosphere, foliage pigment, and potentially different types of plants. Think of it as a sort ...
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1answer
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Kinds of stars and local plant life [closed]
I know how the color of a planet's flora is affected by the light from its sun. But my problem is I keep getting things confused. Does anyone know of a resource that lays it all out in a chart? I'm ...
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3answers
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What are good lower and upper bounds on year length for habitable planets?
In science fiction dealing with multiple intelligent species, "year" is still often used as a unit of time - like when describing a character's age - even when dealing with species that ...
2
votes
2answers
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In This Picture, How Far Can One Binary Orbit the Other?
In an alternate Milky Way in an alternate universe, there is a cluster of stars so dense that nights are over 60 times brighter than our full moon. In that cluster is a solar system presented (albeit ...
3
votes
2answers
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Difference between F type stars and our sun
I'm writing a science fiction series. I have an intelligent nation of reptilian people who live on an Earth-like planet orbiting an F-type star. This nation needs to bask in the sun. How will the ...
5
votes
2answers
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how can you accelerate the fusion cycle in high mass stars?
I'm trying to design a device that would cause a supernova in a high mass star. I want some kind of explanation so the device doesn't seem so handwavy. Is there any way to somehow increase the amount ...
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3answers
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How far would we have to travel to make all of our familiar constellations unrecognisable?
How far would we have to travel to make all of our familiar constellations unrecognisable? (in terms of human recognition)**
We know that groupings of stars in constellations is illusory. Two ...
3
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1answer
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How Many Red Dwarves Can Make One Stable P-Orbit?
Red dwarves are the most common stars in our galaxy, if not the whole universe. They are small--the largest don't exceed one-half of a solar mass--but scientists still believe in their potential for ...
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3answers
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Could a dyson sphere survive a supernova?
So, a civilization built a massive Dyson Sphere around a supergiant star. As the star ages, it begins to fuse iron. At this point, the force of radiation pressure cannot prevent core collapse, and ...
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4answers
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Can Multiple Stars Naturally Merge Into One New Star?
Assume just for this question that in one same plane of space, there are the following stars within close proximity of each other:
An O-type main-sequence star (18x wider, 15-90x more massive and 40k-...
6
votes
2answers
197 views
Could a red giant be re-stabilized?
First, some context: I am creating a habitable world with intelligent life present in the second main sequence of a star (hence why it needs to be re-stabilized). This life discovers the ruins of an ...
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0answers
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World building - Sky color, star class based on the color of the plants [duplicate]
Starting a new project here
If my plant foliage is blue-green/turquoise and my under water plant are in the reddish-brown/ochre color - What color should the sky be (mid day and dawn/dusk) and what ...
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0answers
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How much do stars brighten as they age? [closed]
Typical worldbuilding resources give some approximate equations for the luminosity of a main sequence star as a function of its mass, e.g. L = M4 (relative to the Sun's mass and luminosity, for stars ...
1
vote
1answer
225 views
Star that gives heat but no light? [closed]
Is a star that emits heat, enough for life to exist on its planets, however does not emit much light possible?
NOTE: I'm not asking if life on a lightless planet is possible.
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votes
2answers
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What would seasons and daylight be like if the Earth was on an eight-shaped orbit between two stars?
I'm building a medieval-high-fantasy world and I want it to have two suns. I'd like it to make it somewhat realistic at least as far as seasons and light/biomes go, while the actual feasibility of ...
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votes
2answers
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How close to a magnetar could a generation ship get?
In the news recently, it has been discovered that the fast burst radio waves are coming from magnetars.
It is doubtful that a habitable planet could form anywhere near one, but such a star would be an ...
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1answer
168 views
How realistic is this orange dwarf star?
For my world building project, I have an (on the large side) orange dwarf star with these parameters:
Mass: 0.75 solar masses
Radius: 0.8 solar radii
Luminosity: 0.36 solar luminosities
Surface ...
11
votes
3answers
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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
119 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 ...
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2answers
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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
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1answer
98 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-...
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0answers
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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 ...
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8answers
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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 ...
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2answers
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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
98 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 ...
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1answer
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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 ...
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3answers
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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 ...
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2answers
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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 '20 at 18:56
chasly - supports Monica
45k12 gold badges134 silver badges280 bronze badges
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votes
2answers
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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 ...
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13answers
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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 ...
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2answers
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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 ...
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6answers
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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
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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
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2answers
215 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-...
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3answers
239 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. ...
