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Basil

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Posts posted by Basil

  2. What effects would you see on a terrestial planet in a binary system?

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: What effects would you see on a terrestial planet in a binary system?

     

    Oh' date=' and can you have moons? I thought the orbits wouldn't work.[/quote']

     

    Interesting question. I don't know, but I think you'd have to have a fairly small moon fairly close in. Certainly, I'd expect something like Phobos or Deimos would be possible, while something like Luna would be "pulled loose" in very little time (astronomically speaking). Something in between might be stable over the long term, but I have no idea where "in between" is the largest-looking satellite you could get away with.

     

    Since the OP wants multi-color effects, that requires a satellite that has a visible disk. This is going to be tricky to achieve(Deimos, for instance, is only 1.4 minutes of arc by 1 minute of arc when directly overhead at the equator; this is less than five percent by three percent the apparent size of Luna from Earth).

     

    He may have to settle for something one half to one fourth the apparent size of Luna.

     

    Hm..... I'll have to think about that some more.

  3. What effects would you see on a terrestial planet in a binary system?

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: What effects would you see on a terrestial planet in a binary system?

     

    I am looking at 20 AU, I am hoping it will be neough for minor climate effects and for a great cycle (the period of the suns) to be 80 years so that changes can be seen in one lifetime. Especially since my years are short 256 days.

     

    Suns are actually smaller than Sol so about .82 AU for my life sustaining planet on the primary witht he secondary being a red dwarf.

    OK, a smaller "other" star will mean less disturbance of the planet's orbit. Note, though, that class M stars will have a mass of .2 to .45 that of Sol -- well, for Main Sequence stars; some of the other types (Ia, Ib, etc., etc.) are more massive. So, a red "dwarf" (which is actually a Main Sequence star) will still have a significant effect on the planet's orbit. Just not as much as my original description.

     

     

    This is the effect I am going for but not so extreme. Keeping the second sun smaller' date=' and a diffrent color for the lighting effects. I want to make one person on average live atleast a full cycle (80x256 days) which should be easiy with human current physiology as it is only about 58 earth years. Some of my "human" races could easily live out 2 full cycles whcih should be diffrent but never radically so.[/quote']

     

    Well, sounds to me like your results will be reasonable, given the set-up. Just remember that historical records will have the full range of climate changes, for anyone that cares to dig through the records. ;)

  6. Jokes

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Creative Puns for Educated Minds

     

    [*]She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

     

    She was only a stableman's daughter, but all the horse manure.

     

     

    All the horsemen knew her. :eg:

     

     

  7. Your PCs might be Underpowered if...

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: Your PCs might be Underpowered if...

     

    somehow lb these posts of yours dont seem right for this thread

     

    Absolutely right. I have no idea what the heck he's doing, but it's not amusing, interesting, fun, useful, or related to the threadS cluttering up with this yatter. I can see no reason to do it, other than to get attention, like jumping up and down and yelling.

     

    I've put him on ignore. Perhaps if others did so he'd stop.

     

    You (generic) are free to ignore my advice, of course.

  8. Susano's Song-Based DC NPCs

    in Dark Champions

    Posted

    Re: Susano's Song-Based DC NPCs

     

    You, sir, are a genius. :thumbup:

     

    Just a couple of minor notes:

     

    2 The poorer quarters, where the ragged people go: Survival (Urban) 12-

    Perhaps some contacts "on the street"?

     

    15 A pocket full of mumbles, such are promises All lies and jests. Psychological Limitation: I have squandered my resistance. Gullible. (Very Common, Moderate)

    I find this a little confusing; with the two quotes arranged like this it almost looks like a Disad. got dropped. That, or "I have..." got displaced.

     

    Also, "I have squandered my resistance" sounds more like bad health (lowered CON), or he's punch-drunk or has a glass jaw (Phys. Lims.)

     

    10 He hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. Reputation: , 8- (Extreme)

    What Reputation? Anyway, this sounds like gullible &/or pig-headed.

    Oh, and it's "A man hears..." ;)

     

    Background/History: Designer's Note:

    While a more straightforward interpretation of the lyrics of "The Boxer" suggest that the first person narrator and the boxer are not the same person, I think Paul Simon intended a certain ambiguity of identity. In any case, combining them makes for a more complete and interesting character, in my opinion.

    ::blinkblinkblink::

    Wow, I can't see how one could say the first-person stuff is from someone other than the boxer. Seriously, I just now had to listen to it twice to realize the first-person narrator never said what he does for a living.

     

    Well, well. Ya live an' learn.

     

    Anyway, a superlative work. :hail:

     

    The Bacandforthtrian would bow, too, but he can't agree with himself on which end does what.

  9. Answers & Questions

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Answers & Questions

     

    A: I want you to do it' date=' I want you to do it.[/quote']

     

    Q: Thanks to the work of the infamous Dr. Infamous and his Mind Control Ray, I can have anyone you want perform indecent, pleasurable actions to your body. Shall I have Gillian Anderson do so, or someone else?

     

     

    A: Thank you for that defining instance of "Don't go there."

     

     

     

     

     

    Dr. Infamous is another fine product of Basil's Twisted Imagination, Unc.

  21. What effects would you see on a terrestial planet in a binary system?

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: What effects would you see on a terrestial planet in a binary system?

     

    I've been doing a bit of reading on this subject, and can give you a bit more info. Please note I'm no expert, and some of the following may be off. However, I believe it's correct in general.

     

    The most important question is, how far apart are the stars? I classify the distances into five classes, very close, close, medium, far, and very far. If neither star is much larger (mass and diameter) than Sol, we can put numbers to those classes.

     

    One important thing: stars at "far" and "very far" tend to have highly eccentric orbits (e=>.5). So when talking about distances I need to say if I mean closest, farthest, or average.

     

    Stars are very far apart if the farthest distance is >5000 AU. At this point, there's a good chance passing stars will "pull apart" the pair; by 10,000 AU it's a certainty. Note, though, this may take hundreds of millions of years.

     

    Stars (remember, I'm speaking of fairly Sol-like) are far apart if their closest distance is >100 AU.

     

    Far and very far apart stars will act pretty much like separate stars; each can have Earth-like planets with little effect from the other star. The other star will be a bright point in the sky, moving against the background stars so slowly it can only be told by records kept for centuries or millenia. Interesting, but not much effect on the setting.

     

    Stars are very close if their closest distance is <1 AU. These stars have an enormous effect on each other. In particular, they will certainly be tidally locked, so each keeps the same face toward the other. This means that each will be rotating rapidly. A magnetic field has drag when forced through a plasma, and the faster it's forced the more the drag, and the more flares, sunspots, etc. there is. When close enough, the effect is, as a book I read put it neatly, like pulling a mixer out of the batter without turning off the motor. And due to the drag, they will spiral closer and closer to each other in, astronomically/geologically speaking, a short time.

     

    Mind you, it's easy to put a planet in a stable orbit around very close stars; the planet orbits the center of gravity of the pair. As a rule of thumb, if the planet/stars distance is >5x the star/star distance, it's stable---IF the star/star orbit is low eccentricity (which it would be) and the planet is orbiting in the same plane as the stars are---which means the "thrown off" stuff is going to hit the planet. In short, with stars very close, radiation becomes a life-killer.

     

    Stars are close if the closest point is <10 AU (but not close enough to be "very close"). Stars that are close are a problem: although the radiation and such of very close stars isn't (as much of) a problem, there's no useful and stable orbit for the planet to be in. If it's close enough to one but not the other to be stable, it's going to bake. If it's far enough away to orbit both, it's going to freeze. Mind you, if you use a pair of O class stars at ~5 AU, you could put a planet in orbit around both and not freeze---however, O class stars put out a lot of hard radiation, so life is not likely. Also, O class stars are "very close" at that distance.

     

    Stars whose closest approach is >10 AU but <100 AU are at medium distance. At this distance, a planet can orbit one but not the other at a distance conducive to life (remember, we're dealing with stars neither of which is much larger than Sol). Now, the "other" star will have gravitational effects on the planet, so the planet will not have a simple elliptical orbit, It will, however, stay within a ring or torus shaped zone around its star.

     

    This is what I find the most interesting situation of a planet of a double star. The orbit will change (eccentricity, average distance, line of apsids, etc), as will the axial tilt (amount and direction) in a time frame that can be as short as a human lifetime (or as long as a few centuries). IOW, while it takes Earth tens of thousands of years for the precession of the equinoxes to make a full circle, it could take a planet in a binary system only a few centuries. Note too, that the rate of change may not be constant; indeed, it might be possible the change in the rate of change might be noticeable within a single life-time.

     

    Thus, the old man of the village could, one a night in early spring, gather around the youngsters--not the children (this is not a fit matter for them)--those in early adolescence, and tell them how he remembers, when he was their age, that the tribe lived farther down the side of the valley, and that where they are right now was covered in snow half the year. The Jungle People didn't live in this valley, because it was covered with forest all the way to the bottom! And you knew spring was coming when the constellation of the Hunter, the one that's overhead right now, was just rising at sunset. For you see, oh you who look forward to the Rite of Adulthood, the sky changes, even within the memory of a single man. Indeed, I remember hearing the oldest of the tribe speak of how much the sky had changed in his life, just as you now hear me. And as some of you do, I scoffed--oh, only in my head--at such a thing. But it is true, yes,....

     

    Well, you get the idea. ;)

  24. Fembot

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Fembot

     

    The Bacandfrothtrain starts to think about cameloidbots. Dr. Infamous and The Mallard start to worry, though for entirely different reasons.

     

    This, that, and the other are yadda yadda yadda. And so on.

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