08-06-2017, 04:53 PM | #11 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Navigating Strange Worlds
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08-06-2017, 06:10 PM | #12 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Navigating Strange Worlds
New moons will only happen during the day, because if the tidelocking.
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Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one! |
08-06-2017, 06:17 PM | #13 |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
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Re: Navigating Strange Worlds
Giving this further thought after a few Google searches...
From what I've read, the process of becoming tidally locked takes time (which makes sense). While it was not part of my initial concept, I am now considering the idea of having the moon being in the process of becoming tidally locked, but not yet locked. More specifically, I was considering the idea that it takes the moon a month or so to turn in such a way that the primary planet would then be facing the opposite side of the moon. In essence, each "day" on the moon would have the same change in lighting than an hour here on Earth has. I'm not sure if what I'm trying to say makes sense. As for the mass of the primary planet and the moon, I'm not sure. The idea is newly formed, and this discussion took my mind in a different direction than I had originally planned. For the purpose of the game, I doubt the players will care about the realism of the cosmology or how long days are, but I'm interested in figuring out what things look like. What I had in mind for the primary planet was something larger than Earth, but roughly the same distance from its sun as Earth is from the sun. How much larger? I don't know. For sake of discussion, I'll say 5 times the size of Earth as the lower limit and 10 times as the upper limit (so roughly somewhere between Uranus-sized and Saturn-sized). Then perhaps a habitable moon -the game world- about the size of Jupiter's Ganymede or the planet Mars. (I'm also considering the possibility of a second moon which could be traveled to via a magic gate during times when the two moons are near enough to each other during their orbits around the primary planet.) I'm warming up to the concept of extended periods of darkness. I like the idea of the impending darkness bringing about a period in which nocturnal predators (as others mentioned) are more active. |
08-06-2017, 09:36 PM | #14 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Navigating Strange Worlds
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I think the satellite would need to have a really high density to be habitable and earthlike at that size. You can probably tweak the blackbody temperature and density and see what's the smallest planet you can get that comes out as an ocean world.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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08-07-2017, 08:53 AM | #15 |
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Re: Navigating Strange Worlds
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08-07-2017, 09:18 AM | #16 | |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Navigating Strange Worlds
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Here is an illustration: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1...it?usp=sharing
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Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one! |
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08-07-2017, 02:57 PM | #17 |
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Re: Navigating Strange Worlds
Planets can get in a resonance with what they are orbiting. Mercury is a 3:2 resonance so it rotates 3 times for every 2 orbits.
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08-08-2017, 05:33 PM | #18 | ||
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
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Re: Navigating Strange Worlds
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With the little bit of Google-based knowledge I'm picking up, it seems that a large and solid rocky planet might be too much mass and might risk crushing (or adversely impacting in some other way) the habitable moon. Though, I suppose that could be solved by having the moon further away from the planet. I like the idea of a mostly liquid planet, but most of the reading I've done indicates that tends to be quite rare, and it's debatable whether or not such a thing is actually possible at the size of something like Saturn. In the end, the planet itself doesn't particularly matter. For the sake of the game, it's mostly just a visual effect. However, knowing what the visual effects are and how to explain them to my players is something which I feel adds to the game. For the sake of making the conversation a little easier, I'll name the planet "Primus." The habitable moon which is the game world will be "Unshier." Quote:
As I consider the idea more, I like the concept of Unshier's (the habitable moon) position and visual effects on Primus (the primary planet) being used in a manner similar to how various mythologies use moon phases and other astrological events to explain things here on Earth. I started to consider that idea after thinking upon the red spot of Jupiter. Depending upon how close Unshier is to Primus, large planetary events could be visible. Magical traditions or rituals might attribute characteristics to the different faces of Primus and patterns on the surface of the planet. My original question about whether or not navigation would be more difficult appears to have an answer of "no." ...and it may actually be a little easier to navigate using the large object in the sky. |
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08-11-2017, 09:15 AM | #19 |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Idaho Falls, Idaho
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Re: Navigating Strange Worlds
How about a double planet - The pair orbit around the L1 point between them, which intern orbits around the star.
The Niven Smoke Ring is another interesting configuration. |
08-12-2017, 08:20 AM | #20 |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Navigating Strange Worlds
Tidelocking or no tidelocking, new moons can only happen when the sun is illuminating the side of the moon that faces away from the planet. That requires the sun and moon to be in conjunction, which means they rise and set at the same time.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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