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| == System ==
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| == Planet C ==
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| [[File:Planet C and its tethered moon.png|right|700px]]
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| * With an albedo of 0.2, the global average temp is 263ºK. Because of modest greenhouse effects, surface temperatures are higher, on the sun-side.
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| # Mass: 1.5M⊕
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| # Gravity: 1g⊕
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| # Radius = 1.225⊕, or 7805km
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| Terminator Zone
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| # +/-30º: 1.28 E8 km<sup>2</sup> (slightly less than all the land of the Earth)
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| # Escape velocity is 12.4km/s, 11% higher than Earth
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| # Orbital velocity is 8.79km/s
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| === Atmosphere ===
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| Water content is low because
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| * Water vapor is a potent greenhouse gas; vast surface water can trap too much heat, especially near the substellar point.
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| * Water leads to climate homogenization
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| * Lack of exposed silicate rock: Necessary for carbon-silicate weathering feedback, which stabilizes climate on geological timescales.
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| Earth has ~1.4 billion km³ of water. In our habitable zone, we have no more than 10% of that, or 100 million km³, though there is much more on the night side, both liquid and ice.
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| {| class="wikitable"
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| ! Factor !! Ɬiʔa atm !! Ɬiʔa % !! Earth atm !! Earth % !! Notes
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| |-
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| ! Total Pressure
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| | 1.6 atm || || 1.0 atm || || Enhanced convective heat transfer, increased IR trapping
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| |-
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| ! Nitrogen (N₂)
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| | 1.00 || 62.50% || 0.7808 || 78.08% || Reduced; still inert, still dominant
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| |-
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| ! Oxygen (O₂)
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| | 0.21 || 13.13% || 0.2095 || 20.95% || Earth-normal partial pressure
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| |-
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| ! Argon (Ar)
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| | 0.40 || 25.00% || 0.0093 || 0.93% || Major heat distribution enhancement, inert
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| |-
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| ! Krypton + Xenon
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| | 0.005 || 0.31% || trace || trace || High molecular mass → improved heat retention, still safe
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| |-
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| ! CO₂
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| | 0.005 || 0.31% || 0.004 || 0.04% || slightly elevated; sub-greenhouse threshold
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| |-
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| ! H₂O vapor
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| | 0.015 || ~1% || || 0-4% || Maintains greenhouse without excess moisture
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| |}
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| ==== Atmospheric Effects on Clouds ====
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| # Increased Pressure (1.6 atm) compresses gases, raising the dew point at which water vapor condenses. Clouds form closer to the surface, and are denser than similar altitudes compared to Earth.
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| # Low Water Inventory (~20% of Earth's): less frequent and less massive cloud systems than on Earth, but still present—especially over "hotspots" on the day side.
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| # Tidally Locked Climate: Cloud formation concentrate along the substellar point, where warm, moist air rises and cools.
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| #* A permanent “eyewall” storm system has formed at the subsolar point, like a giant hurricane.
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| #* As air rises and is advected to the night side, thin cloud bands or ice hazes form as it descends and cools.
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| Appearance:
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| * The presence of noble gases (Ar, Kr, Xe) and higher pressure enhance Mie scattering, making clouds appear whiter and more silvered, especially at sunrise/sunset boundaries.
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| * Night side clouds are thin, high-altitude icy sheets, glowing faintly in aurorae or thermal emissions.
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| ==== Sky Color ====
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| [[File:Life near the terminator.png|thumb|right|Life near the terminator]]
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| The color of the sky is shaped by Rayleigh scattering, which depends on:
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| # Molecular composition: Heavier gases like Ar, Kr, and Xe scatter light less efficiently than N₂.
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| # Spectral output of the star: the red dwarf emits predominantly infrared and red light, with very little blue or violet.
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| Consequence:
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| * Even with atmospheric scattering, there is insufficient blue light in the stellar spectrum to produce a blue sky.
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| * Day sky would likely appear:
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| ** Dark peach, dusky rose, or reddish beige near zenith,
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| ** Grading to deep salmon or mauve near the horizon,
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| ** A slight metallic sheen due to noble gas content and high pressure.
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| Twilight & Limb Scattering:
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| * The terminator (twilight zone) sees a diffuse, ruddy light, scattering through haze and clouds into luminous reds, purples, and copper tones.
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| * Aurorae are spectacular on the night side, especially since stellar flares are frequent.
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| ==== Sound Propagation ====
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| : ''Sound is profoundly affected by atmospheric pressure and composition.''
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| Compared to Earth:
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| * Higher pressure → greater air density → faster transmission of sound and less attenuation.
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| * Argon and Xenon are heavy gases, which:
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| ** Lower the speed of sound relative to air at the same pressure (despite the pressure increase).
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| ** Shift resonance frequencies downward, resulting in deeper, rounder sounds.
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| Consequences:
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| * Voices sound subtly lower-pitched and richer, especially for consonants and low vowels.
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| * Ambient sounds (wind, water, animals) would carry farther and sound more muffled or sonorous.
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| * Music or speech would resonate more warmly, especially indoors or in enclosed spaces.
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| In short: it sounds like it’s wrapped in velvet.
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| ==== Heat Transport to the Night Side ====
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| Mechanisms:
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| # Thick Atmosphere (1.6 atm) increases:
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| #* Advection efficiency: Warm air masses can move more heat horizontally.
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| #* Radiative time constant: The atmosphere holds heat longer before releasing it.
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| # Noble Gases (especially Kr/Xe):
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| #* High molecular mass → more IR opacity → trapping and radiating heat more evenly.
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| # Slow Rotation / Tidal Locking:
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| #* Global Hadley-like cells dominate circulation, carrying warm air from the day side to the night side and descending it there.
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| Result:
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| * The night side is not so freezing. Temperatures differ by tens of degrees, not hundreds.
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| * There are still ice caps and a cold deserts at the anti-stellar point, but not a glaciated wasteland.
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|
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| === Magnetosphere ===
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| * Larger mass --> larger iron core, generating more internal heat
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| * Larger radius --> Vigorous convection in the core
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| * Tidal Flexing --> still drives magnetic activity
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| # Aurorae at lower latitudes
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| ## higher magnetic rigidity, wider magnetotail, and greater reconnection energy.
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| ## Combined with a higher flux of stellar particles, this means:
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| ### Auroral ovals expand, reaching mid-latitudes sometimes equator.
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| ### The skies are alive with rippling green, violet, and crimson aurorae, especially on the night side.
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| ### Daily auroral activity occur during stellar flare cycles.
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| # Compasses
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| ## compasses respond more sharply, with:
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| ### Faster alignment.
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| ### Greater resistance to local perturbations.
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| ## However, frequent magnetic storms from stellar activity cause sudden declinations, reversals, or local anomalies. In short, lots of aurorae equals dead compasses at the same time.
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| # Magnetic Field Strength > 100 μT
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| # Electromagnetism is more basic than chemistry or almost any other natural philosophy
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|
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| === Substellar Point ===
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| The maximum incoming flux is very nearly the same as Earth's solar constant (≈1361 W/m²), but concentrated over one point rather than averaged over a rotating sphere. Temperatures should be above 500ºK most of the time.
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| The magnetic north is also here. The thick atmosphere prevents too much loss here, but
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| * Charged particle influx
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| ** Maximized at the substellar point—intense auroral and energetic particle precipitation
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| * Atmospheric ionization
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| ** Constant production of high-energy ions and NOx compounds—UV fluorescence in upper sky
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| * Localized heating
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| ** Augments already extreme temperatures—600–700 K surface
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| == Artificially Tethered Moon ==
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| * 670,000 km up
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| * 7805 km in radius = same as the planet
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| * 1.33º of the sky, same as the sun
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| A network of tethers/tension lines from the moon to multiple anchor points on the planet’s surface (a tripod or hexapod structure), woven like hair
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| * Uses active tension management and orbital station-keeping to stabilize the moon
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| * Counterweights and inward-pointing mass drivers on the moon to oppose drift
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| The tethers are not bearing the full weight, but merely damping drift, providing restoring force, and enabling long-term stability through active compensation. The moon
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| * Blocks the worst of the heat
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| * Blocks the worst of the solar radiation
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| The moon has
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| * low mass
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| * high albedo - enormous reflectivity
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| * scatters charges particles, UV, X-rays, auroral flux tubes
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| * sunward - crazy hot, high emissivity
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| * earthward - crazy cool, low emissivity
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