Posted on 12/06/2011 11:17:56 PM PST by SunkenCiv
What about post #15, did you look at that?
Maybe this planet is too small to be a gaseous planet but would it be possible to have a Jupiter-sized planet in the habitable zone, with moons circling it that could sustain life, ala Avatar?
What do you think?
Perhaps they came as honey bees and are still here, living among us
or
Like Douglas Adams said, they came as dogs and no one paid them any attention
A moon isn’t really different from a planet. It’s just the name we give to a planet (or dwarf planet or whatever) orbiting a larger planet (two moons - Ganymede of Jupiter, and Titan of Saturn - are larger than Mercury, Callisto (Jupiter) is only a tiny bit smaller than it, and even our own Moon is larger than Pluto as are Io, Europa (both orbiting Jupiter) and Triton (orbiting Neptune). If the other conditions for life are there there’s no scientific reason to disqualify it.
I understand a moon can have life. The question is, can a gas giant (which the moons will be revolving around) exist in the habitable zone... or is that too close to its home sun?
Yes, a gas giant can be in the habitable zone in some cases. Remember different stars produce different amounts of heat - a small hot star will have a habitable zone further out than a large cooler star. There are plenty of situations where a habitable zone can be far enough out for a gas giant to be within it. There have been a number of gas giants identified in habitable zones (because they are larger, they are easier to find). Gliese 876 has two gas giants in its habitable zone, and there’s no reason to think either couldn’t have moons.
Probably much more muscular, really would have to be.
:’)
Thanks naturalman1975.
The weight of an astronaut on the lunar surface is about one sixth that of his Earth weight — despite the fact that the Moon is someone less than one-fourth the diameter of the Earth, and about one-one-hundredth of the Earth’s mass. Distance is more significant than mass when calc’ing stuff like this.
nice relevant graphic (not about weight):
http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/Weight/images/solarsystems9.gif
Coincidentally, the SETI program on Kepler 22b have their antennas pointed at Sol doing the same thing. So far, no luck.
LOL!
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