Post by Lawman on Mar 29, 2008 2:22:54 GMT -5
It's hard to ignore that Firefly and Serenity have a lot to do with space travel. Not deep space, just regular, between-planet space. In order to better play the 'Verse, first you should understand it. I'm going to do my very best to write it as simply as I can, but I can't make any promises - some of this stuff is a bit complicated.
The Solar System.
It's mentioned in the movie Serenity that when the first settlers came to the new 'Verse it had dozens of planets and hundreds of moons. Theoretically that is possible, but if you look closely at the map behind River's teacher, you'll notice that there aren't that many orbits listed. While there may be that many planets and moons, only a handful are terraformed. Cut dialogue from the episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds" says that there are over 70 terraformed worlds spinning away - which, if you take into account all the moons, that is entirely possible.
I'm talking a lot about possibilities, and I'll explain why. There should always be logic behind something, especially heavenly bodies, or else if you put your brain too hard to it, it'll explode. In order for a solar system to support that number of planets and still have them be habitable and 'Earth-norm" then there have to be several things that have to be present.
1. A slightly larger primary sun. The largest mass in the solar system has to be what scientists call a G-class star, which simply tells the temperature range the star is in. A G-class is the same kind of a star that we have, the Sun. If you know about our Sun, then you know that it's slightly cold once you get to a certain point out from it, and that it's very, very warm at a certain point. The same can be said of any sun and planets. In order to 'fix' that, you'd have to increase the size (and thus the temperature) of the central sun. (Numerically speaking, our sun's temperature is around 5,500 Kelvin. The sun in our 'Verse is about 7,000 Kelvin or so but smaller than usual class F stars, which is the next temperature bracket up from G.)
2. A second, smaller sun. I have mentioned primary since in order for the Firefly 'Verse to work you'd have to have at least a second heat source at the half-way mark in the solar system or further out from there. There are other ways around this, but not many, and not any that would make sense. The distances of the outer planets would not allow for how bright the sun we see is, which means a second source of light (and heat!) is needed. (Our own Neptune is a mere 30 AU [astronomical units], and at high noon at the methane planet the amount of sunlight would be the same as a dim twilight for Earth.)
Due to how bright Miranda is in Serenity, it has to be assumed that there is at least one other sun, toward the edge of space, that other planets either orbit around or are close enough to have the light and heat keep them from becoming ice worlds. It is for this reason that there is probably a very small star, greatly less in mass than the primary star, that orbits like one of the other gas planets, the difference of course being the energy production. The star would have to be cool, but warm enough to heat the space it orbits, and project light to worlds near it and even far from it. This star would most likely be a K-class on the lower end on the temperature scale, maybe 3,400 Kelvin. It would make an orbit around the primary sun, and because of it's size would do it faster than a planet at the same distance, causing the other planets around it to be 'carried' due to gravity.
It's possible that there is another heat source even farther out, a red dwarf, which is the smallest sized star and the coolest, but it's heat and light source would be unreliable. For the time being, until my brain can wrap around it, I'll say that there are just the two heat sources in the solar system, Sole, the second sun, and Sun, the primary. Planets orbit Sole, since it is a normal star, but not as many as you'd think, and again, some that orbit near it, such as Miranda would, only do so because they were caught in the gravity of the sun - they still orbit the primary sun same as any other.
3. Jovial Jovians! A Jovian planet is a planet that comprises of no solid matter and is comprised of only gases. Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus are all Jovian. It could be said that any gas planet is a failed star, one that didn't get hot enough in the accretion process (the birth of a solar system - see wikipedia) and so is simply a cooler version of the sun. Gravity and the soupy conditions on a Jovian planet cause it to emit heat, and sometimes, depending on the composition, reflect light. Jupiter don't produce light, but it definitely reflects it and heat to its moons. The same theory works in the Firefly 'Verse - most of the moons we hear about are actually circling a gasser - the 'Verse term for a gas planet. This is how planets like Haven would not only have that dry, hot appearance, but also light.
4. Close, almost overlapping orbits in the beginning of the universe. In order for there to be so many planets, even terraformed, at the 'Earth point' in the solar system (as in Sihnon, Londinium and Osiris, etc), they would have to have very close orbits, or be massive enough to orbit fast enough to heat themselves. Planets like our Mercury are too close to the sun, it's true, so they get pretty baked, but the speed of their orbit around the sun also has a good deal to do with how hot it gets. If Mars, for example, were just a bit more massive, it would probably be warmer, have an atmosphere, and probably be capable of sustaining life. This means that in our 'Verse, there is a combination of these elements. Sihnon, for example, is probably Earth-sized, and Londinium probably slightly bigger but not by much and about a quarter of the distance from Sihnon as Mars is to Earth. It would be like this for the first several planets, up through Hera, which is probably a very massive rock that spins around the sun at the same speed as Osiris, which would then mean it's warm enough to be the breadbasket that it claims.
____________________
Hopefully that helps explain how the actual solar system might work. If you feel lost, it's ok. This is more or less rocket science, after all. Feel free to send out a PM and ask for clarification on any of this.
The Solar System.
It's mentioned in the movie Serenity that when the first settlers came to the new 'Verse it had dozens of planets and hundreds of moons. Theoretically that is possible, but if you look closely at the map behind River's teacher, you'll notice that there aren't that many orbits listed. While there may be that many planets and moons, only a handful are terraformed. Cut dialogue from the episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds" says that there are over 70 terraformed worlds spinning away - which, if you take into account all the moons, that is entirely possible.
I'm talking a lot about possibilities, and I'll explain why. There should always be logic behind something, especially heavenly bodies, or else if you put your brain too hard to it, it'll explode. In order for a solar system to support that number of planets and still have them be habitable and 'Earth-norm" then there have to be several things that have to be present.
1. A slightly larger primary sun. The largest mass in the solar system has to be what scientists call a G-class star, which simply tells the temperature range the star is in. A G-class is the same kind of a star that we have, the Sun. If you know about our Sun, then you know that it's slightly cold once you get to a certain point out from it, and that it's very, very warm at a certain point. The same can be said of any sun and planets. In order to 'fix' that, you'd have to increase the size (and thus the temperature) of the central sun. (Numerically speaking, our sun's temperature is around 5,500 Kelvin. The sun in our 'Verse is about 7,000 Kelvin or so but smaller than usual class F stars, which is the next temperature bracket up from G.)
2. A second, smaller sun. I have mentioned primary since in order for the Firefly 'Verse to work you'd have to have at least a second heat source at the half-way mark in the solar system or further out from there. There are other ways around this, but not many, and not any that would make sense. The distances of the outer planets would not allow for how bright the sun we see is, which means a second source of light (and heat!) is needed. (Our own Neptune is a mere 30 AU [astronomical units], and at high noon at the methane planet the amount of sunlight would be the same as a dim twilight for Earth.)
Due to how bright Miranda is in Serenity, it has to be assumed that there is at least one other sun, toward the edge of space, that other planets either orbit around or are close enough to have the light and heat keep them from becoming ice worlds. It is for this reason that there is probably a very small star, greatly less in mass than the primary star, that orbits like one of the other gas planets, the difference of course being the energy production. The star would have to be cool, but warm enough to heat the space it orbits, and project light to worlds near it and even far from it. This star would most likely be a K-class on the lower end on the temperature scale, maybe 3,400 Kelvin. It would make an orbit around the primary sun, and because of it's size would do it faster than a planet at the same distance, causing the other planets around it to be 'carried' due to gravity.
It's possible that there is another heat source even farther out, a red dwarf, which is the smallest sized star and the coolest, but it's heat and light source would be unreliable. For the time being, until my brain can wrap around it, I'll say that there are just the two heat sources in the solar system, Sole, the second sun, and Sun, the primary. Planets orbit Sole, since it is a normal star, but not as many as you'd think, and again, some that orbit near it, such as Miranda would, only do so because they were caught in the gravity of the sun - they still orbit the primary sun same as any other.
3. Jovial Jovians! A Jovian planet is a planet that comprises of no solid matter and is comprised of only gases. Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus are all Jovian. It could be said that any gas planet is a failed star, one that didn't get hot enough in the accretion process (the birth of a solar system - see wikipedia) and so is simply a cooler version of the sun. Gravity and the soupy conditions on a Jovian planet cause it to emit heat, and sometimes, depending on the composition, reflect light. Jupiter don't produce light, but it definitely reflects it and heat to its moons. The same theory works in the Firefly 'Verse - most of the moons we hear about are actually circling a gasser - the 'Verse term for a gas planet. This is how planets like Haven would not only have that dry, hot appearance, but also light.
4. Close, almost overlapping orbits in the beginning of the universe. In order for there to be so many planets, even terraformed, at the 'Earth point' in the solar system (as in Sihnon, Londinium and Osiris, etc), they would have to have very close orbits, or be massive enough to orbit fast enough to heat themselves. Planets like our Mercury are too close to the sun, it's true, so they get pretty baked, but the speed of their orbit around the sun also has a good deal to do with how hot it gets. If Mars, for example, were just a bit more massive, it would probably be warmer, have an atmosphere, and probably be capable of sustaining life. This means that in our 'Verse, there is a combination of these elements. Sihnon, for example, is probably Earth-sized, and Londinium probably slightly bigger but not by much and about a quarter of the distance from Sihnon as Mars is to Earth. It would be like this for the first several planets, up through Hera, which is probably a very massive rock that spins around the sun at the same speed as Osiris, which would then mean it's warm enough to be the breadbasket that it claims.
____________________
Hopefully that helps explain how the actual solar system might work. If you feel lost, it's ok. This is more or less rocket science, after all. Feel free to send out a PM and ask for clarification on any of this.
