How to Make This Alternate Earth as Black as The Dark Knight

"The Dark Knight" is a nickname given by astronomers to the exoplanet TrES-2b, a gas giant with an albedo of one percent, blacker than paint, blacker than coal"”in fact, blacker than anything on Earth! There are several reasons it is so dark. Its atmosphere is full of materials that absorb light, and it orbits its star so closely that it roasts at 2000 degrees Fahrenheit (1100 degrees Celsius), which is hot enough to melt gold.

In my story, while exploring multiple alternate Earths, our space telescopes have discovered one that is even just as dark as TrES-2b. But it wasn't orbiting nearby, so it couldn't have been hot enough to absorb the heat of its sun. And atmospheric gases are similar to what our Earth's may have been like prior to the Great Oxygenation Event 2.4Ga, not at all compatible with the supposed chemistry of The Dark Knight's atmosphere.

How else can this alternate Earth be blacker than black?

posted almost 5 years ago

JohnWDailey‭

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