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Author Topic: Circumstellar habitable zone  (Read 8057 times)

iamseron

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Circumstellar habitable zone
« on: December 30, 2018, 08:32:47 PM »

In my recent play through I have noticed a few habitable planets directly next to their suns. This doesn't make sense as they should instead be more Mercury-like at that distance. I haven't noticed any habitable worlds unusually far out in the system but that would be the same problem. I suggest adding something that ensures habitable planets are the proper distance away from their suns (not too close or too far- medium distance). This would just be a nice touch to make the game more immersive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitable_zone
« Last Edit: December 30, 2018, 08:35:49 PM by iamseron »
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CrashToDesktop

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Re: Circumstellar habitable zone
« Reply #1 on: December 30, 2018, 08:43:20 PM »

I usually only see this on small, dim stars like Red Dwarfs (Dwarves?).  AFAIK I haven't seen a Terran world or colder hugging a star - maybe an Arid or Desert planet, but that seems more reasonable.
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Alex

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Re: Circumstellar habitable zone
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2018, 09:13:01 PM »

Yep, this is exactly how it works already! :)

It's possible there could be a bug somewhere, of course, but generally, you should see arid/desert closer to stars, and red/brown dwarfs etc may get more "normal" habitable worlds closer to the star, being colder. Stars/habitable planets are all configured with this in mind - each star has a habitable zone, and certain (especially habitable) planets have a range where they can spawn relative to that, as do some planetary conditions.
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intrinsic_parity

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Re: Circumstellar habitable zone
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2018, 09:14:04 PM »

Do all stars have an equal chance of habitable worlds?
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Alex

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Re: Circumstellar habitable zone
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2018, 09:21:25 PM »

No - roughly, yellow have the best chance, orange/red/white are a tier below that, and then you've got blue stars.  And then black holes, neutron stars, and nebulas.

(Don't quote me on this - I could be a bit off about the tiers, i.e. red or white may have a slightly higher chance than the other or something (and giants/supergiants may be different), but this is broadly accurate. Main point being, it's tuned by star and planet type.)
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iamseron

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Re: Circumstellar habitable zone
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2018, 09:42:18 PM »

Just IMHO there should never be a habitable planet of any type directly next to a star be it a dwarf star or otherwise. Reading around wikipedia seems to bear out this idea:

"First, planets in the habitable zone of a red dwarf would be so close to the parent star that they would likely be tidally locked...And it appears there is a great problem with the atmosphere of such tidally locked planets: the perpetual night zone would be cold enough to freeze the main gases of their atmospheres, leaving the daylight zone bare and dry."

"..research suggests that these stars may be the source of constant high-energy flares and very large magnetic fields, diminishing the possibility of life as we know it. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_dwarf#Habitability

I would say similar problems would exist for habitable planets around black holes, neutron stars, and nebulas. Can't imagine a habitable world getting constantly blasted by a neutron star or in the cold of a starless nebula unless there is some tech/lore reason like some of the terraformed planets having solar shades and mirrors and such (awesome to see that in the game btw).
« Last Edit: December 30, 2018, 09:57:26 PM by iamseron »
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Alex

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Re: Circumstellar habitable zone
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2018, 10:30:48 PM »

I bet if one digs deep enough, there's probably more reasons for there not being habitable planets at all sorts of stars :) And certainly for there not being that many of them! So personally I'm good with a "sort of makes sense" level of "realism", since the end result of doing things primarily for realism reasons is... not great.

It's also worth keeping in mind that distances and planet sizes in star systems are extremely not to any sort of realistic scale. "Right next to a star" could be reasonably interpreted as being an AU away or equivalent to Mercury, depending on what makes sense for the situation and one's immersion.
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CrashToDesktop

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Re: Circumstellar habitable zone
« Reply #7 on: December 30, 2018, 10:37:28 PM »

Ah, but being tidally locked isn't necessarily a death sentence for a habitable world.  Terran Eccentric worlds exist in Starsector, worlds that are otherwise habitable but are tidally locked to the parent star.  These exist both as handmade and procedurally generated worlds - though only handmade worlds have stellar shades / mirrors at the moment.  Also, the possibility of life doesn't matter in this case - just whether or not the atmosphere is breathable.

I don't think I've ever seen a Terran world orbiting a Blue Giant or larger, or anything habitable at all orbiting anything like a Neutron Star or Black Hole in Starsector, so you can feel fairly safe there.  I have seen, once, a Water World orbiting a White Dwarf though.  Also, for the sake of balance I believe, Terran (and Terran Eccentric) worlds are capped to 5 total or so per sector in my own experience.
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Deshara

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Re: Circumstellar habitable zone
« Reply #8 on: December 31, 2018, 03:20:55 AM »

I wouldn't take the campaign map as being to scale.
Also this -- the planet gen stuff -- is the coolest part of the game.
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Serenitis

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Re: Circumstellar habitable zone
« Reply #9 on: December 31, 2018, 08:34:25 AM »

Spoiler
[close]
Are you using the Unknown Skies mod?
Because that looks very much like an Alkali world, which are commonly found in close orbits (for reasons).

I wouldn't take the campaign map as being to scale.
This. Since fleets are often shown as larger than planets.
Think of it as a visual representation where "reality" is cast aside in favour of clarity.
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iamseron

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Re: Circumstellar habitable zone
« Reply #10 on: December 31, 2018, 01:53:18 PM »

Are you using the Unknown Skies mod?
Because that looks very much like an Alkali world, which are commonly found in close orbits (for reasons).

You know what? I'm not the only person who uses this computer and mods have indeed been added. I feel really dumb now. I don't even know what the base game is actually like. Everything I thought I knew is a lie!  >:( >:( >:(
« Last Edit: December 31, 2018, 02:40:34 PM by iamseron »
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