[SPACE] Star Generation

[Noven]

I have been using the system generation rules in the space book, and decided to let you guys see the labors of my work. I started with the nearest starts to Sol and worked my way out, and currently have finished Barnard's Star. I claim no complete astronomical accuracy to what the real systems are as for stats, and have taken a bit of "artistic privilege" with a few of the systems. Basically what I did was went to wikipedia and found out roughly what type of star it was, and put together some stats using the rules in Space. It is pretty painful to stat out each star, planet and moon, but having nothing else better to do at work, its time well spent. My wiki is a work in progress, and I have basically no limit to how many systems I plan on statting out, but for now, I am going to work on the ones that are listed on my wiki and then work out from there. Anyhoo, enjoy (and feedback is ok too).

http://wiki.noventhehero.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by Noven

http://wiki.noventhehero.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

Solid.

It would be nice if the splash page included what the stellar types are (E.g. G2V) and if there is a garden world present, instead of just the names for the different stars.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Noven

I started with the nearest starts to Sol and worked my way out, and currently have finished Barnard's Star.

Aren't Proxima and Alpha Centauri part of the same multiple-star system? I would have thought you'd stat them up as Alpha Centauri A having one distant companion and one near companion.

Bill Stoddard

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Aren't Proxima and Alpha Centauri part of the same multiple-star system?

Probably: but not for certain. The combined mass of the A-B pair is well-known, but there is uncertainty in the distance of their barycentre from Proxima, and uncertainty in the space velocities of the A-B pair and of Proxima. The upshot is that Proxima could be a distant companion of A-B, or it could be an independent red dwarf on a slow close pass. It could go either way when more precise measurements come in.

[RyanW]

I know it isn't specified in the rules, but shouldn't the inner most planets of Sirius' white dwarf companion be cinders, assuming they survived at all?

[t@nya]

Originally Posted by RyanW

I know it isn't specified in the rules, but shouldn't the inner most planets of Sirius' white dwarf companion be cinders, assuming they survived at all?

Probably. In our own solar system, Mercury, Venus, and Earth are going to be disintegrated, whilst the other planets will end up on wider orbits.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by RyanW

I know it isn't specified in the rules, but shouldn't the inner most planets of Sirius' white dwarf companion be cinders, assuming they survived at all?

The rules really don't handle white dwarfs at all. They will tell you that a star has become a white dwarf, but not its mass and luminosity when it does, and things go downhill from there. The planets of white dwarfs ought perhaps to be generated first around the star at its maximum luminosity in giant stage, then have their orbital radii and orbital eccentricities increased, their atmospheric masses decreased, and be chilled down to the temperatures supported by the luminosity of the remnant white dwarf. The loss of mass of the star and the effect of the passing planetary nebula outflows on the planets is not estimated.

[t@nya]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

The rules really don't handle white dwarfs at all. They will tell you that a star has become a white dwarf, but not its mass and luminosity when it does, and things go downhill from there.

That's too bad. Sounds like it would make a good e23 book, maybe along with pages on pulsars, black holes and other "dead" stars. I even have a name for it: GURPS Space: Shadow of Dead Stars. :)

[Noven]

Originally Posted by Captain Joy

Solid.

It would be nice if the splash page included what the stellar types are (E.g. G2V) and if there is a garden world present, instead of just the names for the different stars.

You tell me an easy way to do that and I'll impliment that. Right now, I just have my wiki-editing skills to go on and thats it. :) Right now I imagine that it is quite easy to navigate, since you click on the star, and it has the planets listed out and what type of planet each one is. If the planet hasnt been statted out yet, then there is no data (but there will be eventually).

Originally Posted by t@nya

That's too bad. Sounds like it would make a good e23 book, maybe along with pages on pulsars, black holes and other "dead" stars. I even have a name for it: GURPS Space: Shadow of Dead Stars. :)

I would love to see more GURPS Space books to expand on the Space series beyond Spaceships.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

The rules really don't handle white dwarfs at all. They will tell you that a star has become a white dwarf, but not its mass and luminosity when it does, and things go downhill from there. The planets of white dwarfs ought perhaps to be generated first around the star at its maximum luminosity in giant stage, then have their orbital radii and orbital eccentricities increased, their atmospheric masses decreased, and be chilled down to the temperatures supported by the luminosity of the remnant white dwarf. The loss of mass of the star and the effect of the passing planetary nebula outflows on the planets is not estimated.

I didn't find it hard to do white dwarfs. I generated the planets as of the condition of the solar system when the star was on the main sequence; then I looked at its two giant phases, figuring the temperatures of the planets that weren't simply engulfed by it, and the planetary types that resulted, and then at the temperatures they fell to when it reached its white dwarf phase.

It was more of a challenge figuring the effect of a distant second star on the temperature of planets orbiting a white dwarf.

Bill Stoddard