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| Gliese 581 d (aka Cuz; a real planet for speculation | |
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| Topic Started: Jan 26 2010, 01:25 PM (3,961 Views) | |
| Canis Lupis | Jan 26 2010, 01:25 PM Post #1 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliese_581_d Here in "The Habitable Zone" forum, we mostly make fictional worlds to evolve life for. The only exceptions I've seen are Europa and Mars. But in 2007, a team of Chilean scientists headed by Stephen Udry discovered a world that could actually support life outside of our solar system. Gliese 581 d is the fourth planet orbiting the red dwarf Gliese 581. For ease of typing, let's come up with a nickname for Gliese 581 and it's system. Any ideas? I'm going to make this an open project. Is anyone able to make worlds in Celestia willing to create Gliese 581 d? I know it is already on Celestia, but I would like to be able to see a hypothetical surface from space. This world, according to Stephen Udry and a lot of other scientists, is likely an ocean planet with a few sparse areas of land. So whoever does this in Celestia needs to take that into account. Now let's speculate! |
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| Canis Lupis | Jan 29 2010, 04:22 PM Post #46 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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I am still of the mind that there would be highly diverse life on this planet. I'm thinking that there might be ____ zones in which life could exist. Sort of like the photic, aphotic, and sea floor zones of Earth. Here's my take on the zones, based on what has been said here. Zone 1: the atmosphere: full of numerous flying/gliding/floating creatures Zone 2: the floating reefs: most numerous around Caerus's tropics, these floating reefs are formed by colonies of "algae", which have formed miniature islands. Some species possess cnidarian-like stingers, which dangle in the water. They are always on the ocean surface, sometimes forming a refuge for the fliers and various other Caerozoans. Zone 3: the photic zone: pretty self explanatory. This is the zone where light is still able to peek through. Due to the size of Udrey, Caerus's photic zone is not as thick as Earth's. Zone 4: the alpha aphotic zone: this zone is the beginning of the aphotic zone. Creatures from the photic zone can still venture into this zone without any adverse effects. Zone 5: the beta aphotic zone: this zone is the middle of the vast aphotic zone. Creatures down here have highly specialized skeletons and counter-pressure systems that would kill them if they ventured into any other zone. Zone 6: the omega aphotic zone: this zone is the last zone where life of any form exists. Pressure is immense down here, but creatures have still evolved to deal with it. Most creatures down here are wide and pancake-shaped to counteract the immense pressures. Zone 7: the ice shelf (aka the abiotic zone): this zone marks the beginning of the hot-ice shelf. It is impossible for life to exist down here. Hot-ice geysers are a regularity down here. |
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| T.Neo | Jan 29 2010, 04:48 PM Post #47 |
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Translunar injection: TLI
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Very good, Canis! I think floating "reefs" would be somewhat similar to sargassum. If they could potentially break the surface of the water and provide some sort of permanant (or semipermanant) refuge for flyers, entirely surface dwelling creatures might evolve- but they'd be rare, and parasitic. I don't know how being shaped like a pancake would protect against water pressure- water compresses from all sides, not only in one plane. Also, why evolve to live in these adverse environments anyway? There isn't any seafloor, there isn't any light... it's just a dead, dark abyss. |
| A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork. | |
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| Oceaniis | Jan 29 2010, 05:52 PM Post #48 |
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Adolescent
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Notice one thing, pressure just compress stuff at diferent pressure, you don't need nothing to counter-pressure, jelly fishes live at enourmous pressures, and still super fragile, sponges the same case, fishes have air in their body at the same pressure as the outside water the only problem they have is the consentration of gases of it would kill them is pass to their blood, so they have an impermeable skin... problem solved Even with much higher pressures the only problem is the change of melting and boiling points of substances, proteins, etc. probaly some liquids would rise their melting points and stop flowing in their bodies... I remembered another thing, on earth the thinking water on the poles take oxygen to the depths, how would these depths get the oxygen? Edited by Oceaniis, Jan 29 2010, 05:54 PM.
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| Venatosaurus | Jan 29 2010, 06:21 PM Post #49 |
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HAUS OF SPEC
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Zone 2 sounds a lot like my floating 'island' idea Though you did add some interesting tidbits, either way this planet sure is interesting
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| Holben | Jan 30 2010, 06:26 AM Post #50 |
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Rumbo a la Victoria
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Floating islands or reefs, however done, are great. One of my 'obsessions'. How about loads of very dense flatfish? Gravity and pressure wouodn't be so much of a problem for them. |
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Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea. "It is the old wound my king. It has never healed." | |
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| Oceaniis | Jan 30 2010, 06:47 AM Post #51 |
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Adolescent
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Talking about floating islands, it don't have hills but here is a real one!![]() ![]()
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| T.Neo | Jan 30 2010, 07:18 AM Post #52 |
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Translunar injection: TLI
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O.o How did that happen!?
Gravity won't be a problem for anything. Being flat won't help against pressure. Edited by T.Neo, Jan 30 2010, 07:18 AM.
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| A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork. | |
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| lamna | Jan 30 2010, 07:58 AM Post #53 |
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Indeed, it would be more helpful to be round. Of course if you are made of water you don't have to worry about pressure for a long way. |
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Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash] | |
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| Oceaniis | Jan 30 2010, 12:34 PM Post #54 |
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Adolescent
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Whales that dives deep, release all the air in their bodies at -600m, without air there is no problem with pressures... fishes have air in their bodies to keep a neutral floatation but that's because they stay at the same depth, so there aren't differences on volume...Underwater volcano (shalow) that is pomice, a lot of pomice, it can be seen from space ![]()
Edited by Oceaniis, Jan 30 2010, 12:43 PM.
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| lamna | Jan 30 2010, 02:39 PM Post #55 |
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Is that Republic of China ship, that marking kind of looks like the Kuomintang symbol. Anyway would currents create places like the Sargasso sea somewhere without land? Edited by lamna, Jan 30 2010, 02:39 PM.
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Living Fossils Fósseis Vibos: Reserva Natural 34 MYH, 4 tonne dinosaur. [flash=500,450] Video Magic! [/flash] | |
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| Oceaniis | Jan 30 2010, 03:51 PM Post #56 |
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Adolescent
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Indeed... for that, the planet need to have circular currents but without land and with a low rotation velocity, that could be a problem... But in the low pressure zone, due the rising warmer air, where the star would be perpendicular to the surface, the wind would carry the islands to its center Edited by Oceaniis, Jan 30 2010, 03:54 PM.
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| Canis Lupis | Jan 30 2010, 09:32 PM Post #57 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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Okay guys. I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with a plausible sentient for Caerus. My reasoning has told me that a sentient coluld only arise from a flier and it would have to make its home on the islands. Perhaps it would start off farming homes, stealing seeds from the floating islands and cultivating their own homes. They'd probably be carnivores, eating Caerian "fish" and Caerian "birds". I'll try to get a drawing done of them. When I do, I'll post them and if someone wants to do a better drawing, they can. |
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| T.Neo | Jan 31 2010, 04:35 AM Post #58 |
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Translunar injection: TLI
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Caerian flish?
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| A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork. | |
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| Xenophile | Jan 31 2010, 12:41 PM Post #59 |
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Formerly known as alienboy.
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Are you guys sure there would be no land at all? Caerus has to have at least a few small islands, aside from the seaweed isles. |
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| T.Neo | Jan 31 2010, 12:46 PM Post #60 |
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Translunar injection: TLI
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If it had the same structure as the Earth, but was simply covered in more water, that might be true. However, any silicate lies thousands of kilometers below the surface. So it could not form islands. Above the silicate is very thick layer of ice allotrope (NOT ice, it's an ice allotrope, formed by pressure), which could not break the surface, due to it's existence relying on pressure of the depths. The ocean layer itself is maybe 100km thick. So yeah, no islands. This isn't your usual Terran planet, it's almost like a downscaled version of Neptune. |
| A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork. | |
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Though you did add some interesting tidbits, either way this planet sure is interesting







9:26 AM Jul 11