- #1
JohnWDailey
- 34
- 1
In this alternate universe, Earth is the same as back home--8,000 miles wide, 25,000 around, six sextillion tons, orbiting a G-type main-sequence star from a distance of 93 million miles. But here, the similarities end.
MOON
DIAMETER--3,273 miles
MASS--0.025x that of Earth
DISTANCE FROM EARTH--475,000 miles
MERCURY (based on 55 Cancri e)
DIAMETER--2x that of Earth
MASS--8x that of Earth
DISTANCE FROM THE SUN--1.4 million miles
VENUS (based on Kepler-69c)
DIAMETER--1.75x that of Earth
MASS--5.5x that of Earth
DISTANCE FROM THE SUN--67.24 million miles
MARS (based on Gliese 1214 b)
DIAMETER--2.7x that of Earth
MASS--7x that of Earth
DISTANCE FROM THE SUN--141.6 million miles
Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus are identical in diameter, mass and distance from the sun to back home. Neptune, however, does not exist.
There are two important factors to consider that most scientists believe are connected to the orbital mechanics of our solar system.
The first and more obvious is the asteroid belt, leftovers of rock, ice and metal that survived the mighty pull of the gas giants.
There is a second, more complicated factor connected to the solar system — the Milankovitch cycles, named after Serbian geophysicist/astronomer Milutin Milankovitch. He proposed that the ice ages Earth had been experiencing for the past two-and-a-half million years were made possible by three basic factors:
Using the details provided above, what will Earth's nightscape look like? And how will these changes affect Earth's Milankovitch cycles?
MOON
DIAMETER--3,273 miles
MASS--0.025x that of Earth
DISTANCE FROM EARTH--475,000 miles
MERCURY (based on 55 Cancri e)
DIAMETER--2x that of Earth
MASS--8x that of Earth
DISTANCE FROM THE SUN--1.4 million miles
VENUS (based on Kepler-69c)
DIAMETER--1.75x that of Earth
MASS--5.5x that of Earth
DISTANCE FROM THE SUN--67.24 million miles
MARS (based on Gliese 1214 b)
DIAMETER--2.7x that of Earth
MASS--7x that of Earth
DISTANCE FROM THE SUN--141.6 million miles
Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus are identical in diameter, mass and distance from the sun to back home. Neptune, however, does not exist.
There are two important factors to consider that most scientists believe are connected to the orbital mechanics of our solar system.
The first and more obvious is the asteroid belt, leftovers of rock, ice and metal that survived the mighty pull of the gas giants.
There is a second, more complicated factor connected to the solar system — the Milankovitch cycles, named after Serbian geophysicist/astronomer Milutin Milankovitch. He proposed that the ice ages Earth had been experiencing for the past two-and-a-half million years were made possible by three basic factors:
- Eccentricity (Orbital shape) — In an average ice age, the shape of the Earth’s orbit varied from 0.000055 to 0.0679 with the mean being 0.0019 over a cycle of 100,000 years.
- Obliquity (Axial tilt) — In an average ice age, the earth’s axis varies from 22.1 degrees to 24.5 degrees over a period of 41,000 years.
- Precession (Axis of rotation in relation to fixed stars) — Today’s North Star is Polaris, but won’t be the case forever — its supposed duration is 26,000 years.
Using the details provided above, what will Earth's nightscape look like? And how will these changes affect Earth's Milankovitch cycles?