All Questions
71 questions
3
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514
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In an eclipsing binary orbited by an Earth like planet, would the drops in brightness be noticeable?
An eclipsing binary is a binary star system that periodically eclipses one another. There is a drop in total brightness when the primary eclipses the secondary and a smaller drop when the secondary ...
- 133
2
votes
1
answer
61
views
Where would this star's habitable zone be in AU?
I am making a hypothetical solar system. I want to know where the star's habitable zone would be located (in AU). Here are the characteristics:
Star name: Undecided
Star designation (preliminary): ...
- 81
3
votes
6
answers
1k
views
Plausible orbit to have a visible object slowly circle over the night sky
I want to have the inhabitants of a particular world - doesn't have to be a planet, can be a moon - be able to see a certain point of light - can be a planet, moon, star, whatever - moving in the sky ...
- 739
8
votes
3
answers
2k
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Can I replace the Sun with a non-nuclear equivalent?
The Scientocratic Hivemind has killed the Fire Deity at the cost of erasing the Earth's sun. For the sake of the lifeforms of this Earth before it goes away, it refines the Deity's corpse into a Sun ...
- 3,357
0
votes
1
answer
174
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F type and K type Star Binary
I'm designing a worldbuilding project and the first major hurdle I'm encountering is the star(s) I want to have.
The primary star is an F9V - F8V star with a mass of 1.13 - 1.15 Solar Masses, a radius ...
- 181
0
votes
1
answer
131
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Positioning the second sun in a binary star system so that a tidally locked moon of a gas giant is not illuminated by it, but the gas giant is
Working off this question and its suggestion of binary star systems to increase the length of 'day' on a planet without increasing the length of 'night'
I have a gas giant (1.2 Mass/Jupiter, 1 Radius/...
- 343
3
votes
1
answer
87
views
How visible would stars be from a planet orbiting an M-class star?
I have a planet orbiting at 0.2067 AU around a M-class red dwarf of mass and luminosity 0.4037 Msol and 0.0286 Lsol, respectively. The planet has an atmosphere of 93% CO2 and 3 atm. What I wonder is, ...
user100304
4
votes
2
answers
605
views
Would an increase in star density affect the "Goldilocks Zone"?
Let's say that there's a solar system that matches the description of Sol exactly, save for the fact that it's 20,000 light years closer/farther to the galactic center.
Would the zone of one ...
- 454
3
votes
5
answers
248
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What are some pseudo-scientific ways to explain the qualities of a yellow dwarf hyperstar?
Basically, in my stories, there’s a habitable, Earth-like planet called Ozarvis 32. It is the 32nd planet from the star of the Ozarvis Stellar System, which has 68 planets, 12 of which are in the ...
- 551
2
votes
1
answer
155
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How do I make an Earth-like habitable planet tidally locked to a red supergiant (class L or M)?
Assuming tidally locked planets have the potential to be inhabitable: Is there any way for a planet of Earth-like size to become tidally locked to a red supergiant of class L or M?
- 21
1
vote
1
answer
229
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A brown dwarf world
I’m thinking about making a detailed world on Luhman 16 B (not around the star, right on it). This brown dwarf's mass is 28.6 times that of Jupiter and has a radius 104% that of Jupiter. It has a ...
- 211
2
votes
2
answers
314
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Is a p-type binary system with two suns and two moons possible? [closed]
I want to have a fantasy setting with two suns and two moons. Ideally, the stars would be 5 million km apart, orbit each other every 10 days, and pass in front of each other every 5 days, creating an ...
- 29
0
votes
1
answer
71
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Can an earth-like planet exist in a circumbinary orbit around two k-class stars?While also having up to two dozen other planets in circumbinary orbit?
I have a plot arc in mind, but it all hinges on the feasibility of an earth-like world existing in circumbinary orbit around two k-class (or g-class) stars. The looming danger in the story arc is that ...
4
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1
answer
331
views
Can large stars have tidally locked worlds in their habitable zones?
I think the vast majority of space-enthusiasts has heard at some point that in order for a planet orbiting a red dwarf star to be habitable, it needs to be close enough to its parent star to sopport ...
- 1,811
6
votes
2
answers
315
views
How plausible is my solar system?
I am currently working on a world orbiting around a red dwarf star (M0V to M2V, I haven't decided yet) and I need some help with designing the solar system. My original plan was having 4 planets ...
- 1,811
3
votes
1
answer
549
views
Replacing the sun with an type A star (Fomalhaut) in a fantasy solar system where there is an habitable planet
Lets says there is a planet in the goldilocks zone of a type A star (luminosity of 16 and mass of 1.9 (like the star Fomalhaut))
How far would the type A star need to be from the planet and how would ...
- 632
4
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2
answers
1k
views
What would happen if a neutron star approached the solar system?
Given its enormous eletromagnetic field and gravity( and probably gravitational waves would be very powerful) what would happen if a neutron star approached Earth? What if approached just by few light ...
- 1,899
8
votes
2
answers
413
views
Time scale and mechanism to “realistically” remove Sol from the Milky Way
What is the fastest rate a star could be flung out of our galaxy and by what mechanism(s)? (i.e. from a gravity kick by a hypothetical passing hypervelocity black hole)
Secondary question: how far ...
- 81
3
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2
answers
834
views
Is it possible for a future civilization to concentrate the galaxies (or some of them) of the universe?
In the world I describe there is not much time left before the expansion of space takes its toll. Galaxies are already accelerating away from each other on a negatively curved spacetime. The expansion ...
5
votes
2
answers
273
views
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 ...
- 51
3
votes
2
answers
768
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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 ...
- 131
8
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4
answers
2k
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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-...
- 14.9k
7
votes
9
answers
868
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 ...
- 73
2
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2
answers
2k
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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 ...
- 21
28
votes
6
answers
6k
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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 ...
- 389
4
votes
1
answer
185
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 ...
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6
votes
1
answer
329
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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 ...
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27
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17
answers
9k
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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 ...
7
votes
2
answers
681
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 ...
- 14.4k
5
votes
1
answer
119
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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, ...
- 14.9k
8
votes
1
answer
232
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-...
- 5,213
4
votes
1
answer
411
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 ...
- 103
10
votes
1
answer
252
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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 ...
- 819
10
votes
3
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658
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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 ...
- 243
17
votes
3
answers
1k
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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 ...
- 102k
4
votes
5
answers
8k
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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,...
- 3,246
5
votes
3
answers
293
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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 ...
- 4,948
4
votes
2
answers
249
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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. ...
- 4,553
6
votes
2
answers
336
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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....
- 3,833
4
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2
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1k
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Can a planet with a very long day/night harbor life such as Earth?
The year of this planet is 1,000 earth-days-long around its star, and its night lasts half a year.
Can it support life such as Earth?
With humans and lush forests and liquid water and good ...
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9
votes
2
answers
647
views
Radiation from binary star systems and how that would affect a planet orbiting both stars
I am working on a solar system for a world where I intend to place my stories. This world should work by the laws of physics as we understand them so that, even though magic is a thing that exists in ...
- 554
2
votes
4
answers
2k
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Could a habitable tidally locked planet have a day and night cycle caused by the eccentricity of its orbit?
I'm trying to think of ways that a habitable tidally locked planet could have something that resembles a day/night cycle. Shadows caused by any moons being out of the question.
Hypothetically, could ...
- 1,252
5
votes
2
answers
428
views
How can I find local stars that are 'gravitationally bound', i.e. moving together?
Within our local region of space are several hundred/thousand stars. I had long ago found some pretty good resources and made a starmap (using YGraph and some star catalog datasets I got from Nyrath, ...
- 381
10
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4
answers
4k
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What is the habitable zone around my star?
I have built a star that is loosely based on a real-world star. It has the following properties:
Spectral class G
Mass: 1.03 M$_\odot$
Radius: 1.02 r$_\odot$
Luminosity: 1.05 L$_\odot$
Surface ...
- 29k
12
votes
3
answers
2k
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What would the star chart be like if earth had a ring?
Recently, I've seen those pictures showing what Earth would be like if it had rings, and that made me wonder, what would the sky map be like? This ring would appear as a fixed object (pretty much as ...
- 1,151
24
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5
answers
2k
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Is it safe to orbit HDE 226868?
I'm considering a story where an exploration is devised to explore a binary system containing a black hole; the choice is Cygnus X-1, with its companion supergiant star HDE 226868. It would likely be ...
- 102k
-4
votes
3
answers
317
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How massive of a foreign body going at near light-speed (>99.9999% C) would it take to make the sun explode?
It doesn't have to be a rock, in fact it would probably be depleted uranium or even some crazy material like neutronium.
- 13
7
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4
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1k
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How can a planet orbit two or more stars simultaneously?
What would the orbit of a planet orbiting two stars look like? Would the planet orbit the stars simultaneously or one after the other? How strong might be the gravity well of such a system be? Any ...
- 304
8
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3
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559
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Would ripping the core from a Sun-like star cause it to explode?
I'm well aware that a Sun-like star is incapable of producing a supernova at the end of its life. However, would removing the core or a fraction of it, trigger an explosion from the star collapsing in ...
- 6,756
2
votes
5
answers
265
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Plausible way for the Sun to lose huge amounts of mass?
So, I'm writing a set of short stories (i.e. in the "Martian Chronicles" format). It was going to be centered around life on Earth through the sudden dissapearance of the Sun, but after surprinsingly ...
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