Posts tagged atmosphere
Consider a planet with life forms, which are different than those found here on Earth, orbiting a star similar to the Sun. Such life forms don't use oxygen and, therefore, the planet's atmosphere i...
I've been using this helpful diagram a lot for worldbuilding. Now I came to think about the fact that helium is more massive than hydrogen, thus a scenario where hydrogen escapes, but helium is ...
The exoplanet in question is Proxima Centauri b. How might the mid-to-upper-level atmosphere of that planet be dangerously radioactive and full of airborne nuclear reagents, without it being the do...
During much of the Cretaceous period, oxygen levels were substantially higher than they are currently, with estimates indicating that around 30% of the atmosphere consisted of oxygen. Obviously, t...
If somehow Mars suddenly had our exact atmosphere, could there be lots of life in a few million years? Would the temperature rise quickly? Would the ice caps melt? Could the life be as advanced as ...
If our atmosphere was much thinner (half as thin as we have now) how would animals and humans evolve? Would we evolve completely different? Would we have a quite barren planet? Let's just say that ...
Does anyone know an equation or something along those lines for calculating how many and the locations of atmospheric circulation cells for a planet? Also, does the planet's radius and atmospheric...
In my previous post, I asked about how tall trees could grow in my world. To be honest, I really need those trees to be huge for my storie, because a big part of the plot will be linked to those bi...
I'm looking to design one of my warring planets around organolithium chemistry with seas and precipitate primarily composed of a clear organolithium solvent liquid - possibly ammonia. I've searched...
My aliens want to build the heaviest chemical rocket possible: They never were much into space travel, since their planets' gravity is about 1.5 of ours. They made lots of bad experiences fighting ...
Context: Humans have escaped a a super-bacteria, similar in situation to the Bubonic Plague, that they could not create a cure for. They've done this by engineering gargantuan trees and adapting to...
What would happens if due to increased volume and reduced density, the global warming cause consistent loss into space of certain gases of atmosphere? What would we observe?
Perhaps you've flown in a plane on an especially cloudy day when all you can see are clouds beneath and above you. It's a beautiful sight, strata'd white all around. So what if the plane were flyin...
From some research, I have learned that atmospheric circulation - winds currents and ocean currents - depend on pressure and the Coriolis effect. But if the oxygen level is increased and the press...
Picture a band of happy campers, literal campers, sitting around some fires. Suddenly they feel their inner-ear "filling up" and after mere instants the ears begin popping, as if they were inside ...
Pretty simple (in theory that is) question for one of my worlds. I heard carbon fluorides are intense greenhouse gases but otherwise harmless and didn't lead to large issues (atleast none that I co...
Fact 1: The cause of a sunset is from the angle of the sunlight, because the amount of scattering increases as the light passes through more and more of the atmosphere. Fact 2: Higher frequency ...
I'm making a Region of a planet with very high humidity, mostly covered in fog at ground level. I am open to having seasonal changes and would like there to be a few sunny days lets say 1 out of 15...
Hydrogen and oxygen gases can be combined to form water and a lot of heat. As with many exothermic reactions, the heat from this process can provide activation energy to the reaction of more H2 wit...
This question focuses on an artificial atmosphere on the moon and the achieved amount being the limiting factor for the size of habitats. I got a lot of beef for the suggestion to terraform the wh...
In the far future the moon is terraformed and maintains earth-like conditions for people to walk around freely. Gravity is a 6th of earth's. We assume the atmosphere is "well-functioning for human ...
Just assume we are long into the future, all other parameters have been met and we have the technology, will and money to terraform our moon and keep it so. Atmosphere, as commonly agreed on, would...
Assume an Earth-Clone, that has an axial tilt of 90°. How would the circulation of the atmosphere look like? Would there still be three convection cells?
I'd like to know if a climate with snowy and gloomy winters and rainy and cloudy summers is possible. Because the climate of Russia in summer is sunny enough and the Icelandic ones isn't so snowy....
This planet's atmosphere has oxygen at a partial pressure that is breathable to humans, and the rest of the atmosphere is, at least, not made up primarily of Nitrogen (that is, it's not just Earth'...
I'm writing a short story about space faring race of people. I want to emphasize how technology has allowed a casual approach to space, making it seem like only a minor inconvenience or hazard. O...
Hypothetically speaking, if we would find another planet, the size of Earth, with atmosphere as dense as Earth's atmosphere is, and we would insert (in some hypothetical way) nitrogen, oxygen and C...
While thinking about Starfish Prime's answer to the question Algae using UV light from auroras for photosynthesis, I considered the possibility of an alternate Earth which has a normal, Earth-like ...
This is a continuation of a question I made earlier! The atmosphere consists of 80% N2, 17% O2, 1% CO2, 1% NH3. I am not extremely familiar with the chemistry of ammonia, but I do know that it beh...
I am currently working on world-building a planet, and I wanted to try to diverge from Earth's atmosphere a little bit, but not extremely. I am planning on still having it be a oxygen-nitrogen rich...
For story writing purposes I would like a realistic setup where there is a planet with close to earth conditions in terms of gravity, relative position to the sun etc. However I aim to have a much ...
I'm working on a story involving humans looking for another habitable planet, and I have been scouring the net for days, finding lots of info on varying levels of oxygen and nitrogen, but none that...
I've read all the related questions on here and as far as I can tell this should be breathable on my planet Liskuel, which has 1.5 bars of pressure. However, I'm really bad at maths and don't reall...
My first post, I am sure I will have many more! I am so excited to have found this community! I have a game called Rise: The Vieneo Province and a very old issue that I was hoping to get help with...
From this graph it can be seen that Water Vapour can never be held by the Martian gravity, and would escape into space. How would future terraforming processes overcome this loss?
Let's say world is completely flat (infinite flat world, think minecraft flatworlds) for the purposes of the question. The gasses of the world started out in a grid pattern, with each square being ...
My (your) goal is to melt several tons of snow and ice in a small area using electromagnetic radiation beamed down from a spacecraft in orbit. The atmosphere that's in the way is vaguely Earth-like...
For practical purposes I think about something in line of Cessna 172. As it was the most produced aircraft, then it must have hit some sweet spot or be near it. atmosphere with barely noticeably ...
I am an aspiring science-fiction novelist. I am experimenting with a world I'm trying to create and I wanted a couple of expert opinions on Atmospheric composition; 53% Nitrogen 27% Oxygen 3% Xen...
I'm making a world which is set on a planet with two smaller "bubbles" of atmosphere at the poles, and a more stereotypical atmosphere that surrounds them. Each of the three atmospheres has a diffe...
In a lab at Caltech Ken Libbrecht has been simulating snowflake formation and under absurdly exact laboratory conditions, they have been able to create almost identical snowflakes. Clearly, in th...
I'm working on a far-future SF story taking place on a terraformed Mars and would like a fact check. Current estimates (see here and here) are that the CO2 on Mars could be released in gas form to...
A planet approximately 70% the size of Earth with a surface pressure of approxiamtely 0.25 bar at sea level. The atmosphere consists of the following gases: Nitrogen (98%) Oxygen (1.5%) Carbon mo...
One way, I think, is if the gravity is exactly correct. However, while I think the water might be in a unstable equilibrium, I have been unable to work out the mathematics. Let's assume that such a...
Based on my reading on some science papers, large, wet terrestrial planets likely exist that are swathed in a thin atmosphere of nitrogen/hydrogen ($H_2$ & $N_2$). If life evolved on such world...
I'm no scientist and my poor brain box is on its last legs; I was wondering if any of you smart beans out there would be able to help me figure this out? Here are the specs of my system; Kereiol i...
Assumptions - atmospheric pressure is 3 atm, but partial pressure of oxygen is comparable to earth, the rest is mostly nitrogen. Planet is tidally locked and insignificantly heavier. (for simplicit...
There are a number of places in which cumulonimbus clouds - and therefore, thunderstorms - are likely to form, such as: Cold fronts, where masses of cold air move into hot, moist air masses Aroun...
As far as I know, summer and winter are governed by the amount of sunlight absorbed per unit area, where longer days would increase the temperature along with a higher sun angle. To elaborate on ...
I am seeking information and ideas from all you clever people. What I am trying to imagine is a chemical reaction that would change Earths atmosphere rapidly into something else which would be mo...
