Goldmoon Dawn on 29/8/2011 at 02:24
Quote Posted by Xorak
I see it at one higher level, that without precise amounts of sunlight and heat, life (as we know it, I guess) cannot grow and water is basically useless.
Demagogue was absolutely correct when he said *liquid* water. That was certainly never in dispute. But yeah, without heat from our star we would be a big ice cube. If I had a point it would have simply been that a planet out there somewhere with enough ice/water to sustain a small amount of microbial life isnt nearly as interesting as the situation on our own planet, which is seemingly blessed with a comparatively vast amount of liquid water!
Azaran on 29/8/2011 at 03:01
Quote Posted by Goldmoon Dawn
Almost. The universal occurance of life on Earth is brought to you via its vast quantity of water.
Yeah, what I meant is we could possibly breathe there; if we ever went there we might be able to walk around and explore the place without space suits (assuming the temperatures there are reasonale as well).
I hope they can take a picture of this planet.
Kroakie on 29/8/2011 at 06:40
Quote Posted by demagogue
The other thing that this reminds me of is that speech from the dad in Photopia. Wasn't one of the planets that could be somewhere out there made of diamonds?
That's the first thing that pops into my mind too.
demagogue on 29/8/2011 at 16:46
Quote Posted by Azaran
Yeah, what I meant is we could possibly breathe there; if we ever went there we might be able to walk around and explore the place without space suits (assuming the temperatures there are reasonale as well).
I hope they can take a picture of this planet.
If there's water, then you can make air & rocket fuel and establish a long-term base of operations. So you can get away with water w/o air for a while, but not long with air w/o water. The other thing IIRC about air is you want the pressure right, then you don't have to wear a pressurized suit everywhere or your blood will boil, but that's just a "convenience" thing haha...
I remember watching some show making the case that the best other Solar planet for a human base is actually Venus, not Mars. On Mars, the air pressure is very low, there's wild swings into freezing temperature, and the water is hard to get to. On Venus, there's a place where the air pressure and temperature are just fine for us and it doesn't swing wildly, a few miles up in the atmosphere, think of a massive blimp base, and the atmosphere is chock full of water vapor. Not that they said it'd be *easy*, just maybe more comfortable for day to day life than Mars.
Chimpy Chompy on 29/8/2011 at 20:09
Quote Posted by Rug Burn Junky
For Public Enemy fans: Be afraid.
Heh, I went straight for the goth reference but had to look yours up. I'm so uncool.
nicked on 30/8/2011 at 05:52
Water or no water, it says the planet is 20 times as dense as Jupiter. Wouldn't we just get crushed into wallpaper paste the moment we got near?
Azaran on 30/8/2011 at 06:02
Maybe not. Jupiter is made of gas (entirely I think). THe diamond planet is then much closer in composition to the Earth, by virtue of being solid
nicked on 30/8/2011 at 12:36
But wouldn't the gravity be much too strong for us? Or have I misunderstood the relationship between density and gravity?
Chimpy Chompy on 30/8/2011 at 13:01
I did a quick run thru the math, and I get a surface gravity of 16-17 times that of earth.
(nicked: mass is density times volume. Gravity scales with mass, and inversely with the square of radius).
demagogue on 30/8/2011 at 14:13
I was told it's like you imagine every particle in the planet is pulling on you. The closer to you (or the space you're in) that they collectively are (and by extension each other), they stronger they'll all pull/curve ST together and the force will be stronger. But if they're spread out and a lot are distant from you, the force will be weaker to that extent; the particles on the backside of the planet are farther away so not pulling as hard. But since each one is pulling, the quantity matters too. So it's mass*volume. The backside particles on Jupiter are farther away, but there's a lot more of them.
