Systems

Solar System | Extra-solar planets | Science Fiction | Other Worlds

Solar System

Our solar system is well described in the Nine Planets site and the Goddard fact sheets.

Extra-Solar planets

A lot of excitement has been generated recently by the discovery of planets around other stars, though at the moment they are either pulsar planets or gas giants like 51 Pegasus and 70 Virginis and 47 Ursae Majoris. For technical details see the site set up by the major discoverers Marcy and Butler. An excellent summary of the 51 Pegasus, 70 Virginis and 47 Ursae Majoris systems appears on the Nine Planets pages. There is also a Extra-Solar Planets Encyclopaedia. A new Exoplanet site lays out information on the known systems very attractively

I've used the limited figures from these sources and Usenet, guessing others as appropriate. I've generally assume the bodies are scaled Jupiter's for radius, atmosphere and the like.

Science Fiction

I've included a selection of planets from science fiction. For some, like Frank Herbert's Dune, few figures are quoted, and I'm forced to invent most of the data. At the other extreme, hard SF writers like Hal Clement, Robert Forward and Stephen Baxter provide detailed technical information, but stretch the envelope away from the standard terrestrial model. I can see no easy way to handle the discus shape of Clement's classic Mission of Gravity too well, nor Forward's teardrop shaped worlds in Rocheworld. As for Forward's Dragon's Egg with creatures living on the surface of a neutron star, and Baxter's Raft, while I can increase G a billion fold, most calculations fail for a 1 mile iron honeycomb star and a cabin as a planet.

Poul Anderson designs some of the most detailed conventional worlds, and I've included the twin Genji, Chujo system from Murasaki.

I'm starting to add more stars from this Stars in SF list, and reference some from Larry Niven's Known Space series.

Other worlds

I've also included some of the worlds created by people at the Contact conferences, like Epona.

Martyn Fogg has kindly provided me with details of the possible conditions on a terraformed Mars. The first is when the world is being warmed by high carbon dioxide and water vapour levels, the second after the establishment of life has reduced carbon dioxide and increased oxygen levels, and nitrogen has been added as a buffer gas. Note that the nominal greenhouse effect also includes the influence of CFCs, orbiting mirrors and the like.

Del Cotter has provided me with details of Chiron, the planet in the Alpha Centauri system he designed for Firaxis games for their game Alpha Centauri.