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 … More The Ultimate Trojan 2-star planetary system
This planet and star, now, you really should know ‘em.
And that’s why I’m bothering writing this poem. … More Is our closest neighbor an Eyeball planet? A Proxima poem
What happens when good planetary systems go bad…. … More The biggest tragedy in the history of the Universe
We Earthlings have just one Sun. Tatooine has two. Wouldn’t it be even cooler with three Suns in the sky? Or four or five or twenty? Several extra-solar planets have been found in triple- and even quadruple-star systems (for example, GJ 667C and PH1b). But none of these planets has more than two Suns because … More An Earth with five Suns in the sky
Welcome to Real-life Sci-fi worlds. I use science to explore life-bearing worlds that are the settings for science fiction stories. This post is a pared-down summary of an article I wrote for Aeon in April 2015 — see the original article here. The Sun is pretty key for us here on Earth. The number one … More Real-life Sci-Fi world 8: the free-floating Earth
Welcome to Real-life Sci-fi worlds. I use science to explore life-bearing worlds that are the settings for science fiction stories. Up today: can the moon of a gas giant planet — like Pandora from the movie Avatar — really be habitable? Pandora is one of the coolest-ever settings for a science fiction story. The life-bearing … More Real-life sci-fi world #6: Pandora (from the movie Avatar), the habitable moon of a gas giant planet
Welcome to Real-life Sci-fi worlds. I use science to explore life-bearing worlds that are the settings for science fiction stories. Up today: a desert planet like Arrakis from the classic Dune books (and the movie and miniseries). A tribute for author Frank Herbert‘s birthday (a couple days late). Dune is one of the all-time classic … More Real-life sci-fi world #5: a Dune planet (Arrakis)
Welcome to Real-life Sci-fi worlds. We are using science to explore life-bearing worlds that are the settings for science fiction stories. Up today: an Earth-like planet orbiting a brown dwarf. Setting Planets have been found orbiting all kinds of stars. Stars like the Sun. Stars brighter and fainter than the Sun. Giant stars. Planets have … More Real-life sci-fi world #4: Earth around a brown dwarf
Welcome to Real-life Sci-fi worlds. We are using science to explore life-bearing worlds that are the settings for science fiction stories. Up today: the oscillating Earth. Setting Earth’s orbit is not fixed. Gravitational kicks from the other planets change the shape of Earth’s orbit. Earth’s orbit oscillates between being perfectly circular (having an “eccentricity” of … More Real-life sci-fi worlds #3: the oscillating Earth
Welcome to Real-life Sci-fi worlds. We use science to explore life-bearing worlds that are good settings for science fiction. Up today: the hot Eyeball planet. Planets very close to their stars are too hot for life, right? Well, not always! Take the Earth and move it closer and closer to the Sun. It gets hotter … More Real-life Sci-Fi World #2: the Hot Eyeball planet
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