PLAN[E]T ENGINEERING 101

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes26 Nov 2002, 17:17original as archived

Ahem. It seems to me that we can explain the difference in climate between Green and Blue, without resorting to a radical difference in their respective orbits ... for example, by invoking a difference in the chemical composition of their atmospheres. Suppose that Green simply has a very high percentage of "greenhouse gasses" -- including but not necessarily limited to CO2? And that Blue has a relatively low percentage thereof? Or put it in terms of albedo, and say that Blue's is higher than Green's, so that the same amount of incident solar raditation produces a higher degree of insolation. Will that not produce the -- relatively small; they're both "life zone" planets! -- difference in their average surface temperature? Frustrated,

Charles Reed26 Nov 2002, 17:41original as archived

↳ follows Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · by subject

Ahem back. You're right, of course. My training is in mathematics, not geological/planetary science. Still, I should have thought of that. My tendency seems to be jumping in with my "ideas" without fully examining other alternatives. Still, there's no denying that even if Green orbits Blue, it doesn't orbit it in the same way that Lune orbits Urth. That was one of the points I was trying to make and I got sidetracked talking about orbits and such. Sheepishly, Charles

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Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote: Ahem. It seems to me that we can explain the difference in climate between Green and Blue, without resorting to a radical difference in their respective orbits ... for example, by invoking a difference in the chemical composition of their atmospheres. Suppose that Green simply has a very high percentage of "greenhouse gasses" -- including but not necessarily limited to CO2? And that Blue has a relatively low percentage thereof? Or put it in terms of albedo, and say that Blue's is higher than Green's, so that the same amount of incident solar raditation produces a higher degree of insolation. Will that not produce the -- relatively small; they're both "life zone" planets! -- difference in their average surface temperature? Frustrated, --Blattid

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes26 Nov 2002, 18:23original as archived

↳ follows Charles Reed · by subject

Charles, I didn't mean to direct my Ahem at you; you are hardly the first to get involved in the orbit trap in discussing the mechanics of the Bleen system. I've seen some of our smartest list members go on at great length about possible orbits (including some extreme cases like a sort of W-shaped orbit that actually works but that I really doubt would be stable for a planetary pair for any long period of time). Nor had I thought of this possibility prior to today, so I'm not claiming any special credit for brilliance here ...

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-----Original Message----- From: Charles Reed [mailto:cmreed at link.com] Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 9:41 AM To: urth at urth.net Subject: Re: (urth) PLAN[E]T ENGINEERING 101 Ahem back. You're right, of course. My training is in mathematics, not geological/planetary science. Still, I should have thought of that. My tendency seems to be jumping in with my "ideas" without fully examining other alternatives. Still, there's no denying that even if Green orbits Blue, it doesn't orbit it in the same way that Lune orbits Urth. That was one of the points I was trying to make and I got sidetracked talking about orbits and such. Sheepishly, Charles Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:

Ahem. It seems to me that we can explain the difference in climate between Green and Blue, without resorting to a radical difference in their respective orbits ... for example, by invoking a difference in the chemical composition of their atmospheres. Suppose that Green simply has a very high percentage of "greenhouse gasses" -- including but not necessarily limited to CO2? And that Blue has a relatively low percentage thereof? Or put it in terms of albedo, and say that Blue's is higher than Green's, so that the same amount of incident solar raditation produces a higher degree of insolation. Will that not produce the -- relatively small; they're both "life zone"

planets! -- difference in their average surface temperature?

Frustrated, --Blattid

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