Imagine a dry Earth. No waterfalls. No oceans. No beer (or people to drink it). A sad place. Water is pretty important stuff. In this post we will go deep into how Earth got its water (much deeper than in this post from a while back). And since it’s connected with how Earth formed, our…
I always thought that only 2 or 3 planets could share the same orbit. I was wrong. And it changes everything (for a super-advanced civilization, anyway).
I stumbled upon a simple way to tighten up the Ultimate Solar System. And by stumbled upon, I mean I discovered that someone else had figured it out. And I took it.
Systems of super-Earths may form as long resonant chains, most of which go unstable.
Wake up now people, I’ve got some big news! You won’t want to miss this. You don’t want to snooze. We just found some planets while we were stargazing Gather ’round, listen up. These ones are amazing! And it’s not just one new planet. There are seven! All orbiting one star up there in the…
Trojan planets are the best! I am a big fan. I love the idea of two planets sharing the same orbit around a star. To me, it’s where physics meets magic. (Remember, we’re talking planets not condoms! See here for a little refresher, and here for another article about Trojans). As a planet orbits a…
At a Solar System party, in a room full of planets, the asteroid belt is full of angst. And it should be. It’s out of place. It’s wearing a clown outfit but it’s not a costume party. What makes the asteroid belt so different? Well, for one, it’s not just one object like each individual…
This planet and star, now, you really should know ‘em.
And that’s why I’m bothering writing this poem.
There is only one Superman. One Wonder Woman, one Captain America, one Ironman. All told, a few dozen superheroes. And billions of superhero fans. What about our Solar System? Are we one-in-a-million like Batman? Or a dime-a-dozen like Batman’s fans? How unique, how special is our Solar System? For the first time in human history,…
What happens when good planetary systems go bad….
Let’s keep building the ultimate Solar System. In Part 1 we chose our star. In Part 2 we chose our planets. In Part 3 we chose our planets’ orbit. In Part 4 we learned two ninja moves about orbits. In Part 5 we put the pieces together. In this post we will take the Ultimate…
Life is caught in a chicken-and-egg situation. For life to exist on a planet, the planet must of course have the right conditions for life. The planet must be habitable. But a planet’s habitability depends in large part on whether it already has life. It’s a lot easier for a planet with life to be habitable. So a planet needs life to be able to host life….
