Actually it was a guesstimate, because that secondary sun would probably cause not only a drag down (or speed up) in revolution - but also rotation - because our moon actually helps to keep us spinning at a 24 hour rate - otherwise we would slow down our rotation and our days would be longer - and the planet's tilt angle would dance around a lot more, but I'm guessing that a secondary solar pull might effect a planet in roughly the same way if it were "just right". The question is would it give the planet an "umpff" to keep it spinning faster - or would it drag it down to being a slowing factor proportional to the slowing of it's journey around it's mother sun because of drag? I have a good gut feeling about "what kind" of effects it would have - but when they would kick in exactly is something else.
I remember reading somewhere the Moon will one day be in a fixed orbit around Earth (as it is moving away from us about an inch a year, yes I did know this before Terra Nova was on TV), there won't be a moon-rise or set, it will be in one position. I always thought that would be a strange, one side of the planet would have an always visible moon and the other would never know of it.
Your talking about a geosynchronous stall. At that point the moon would still orbit the Earth - but it's orbital velocity would roughly eqaul the Earth's rotational velocity. At that point the moon would hit the top of the bell curve and do one of two things - either it would continue to escape the Earth's gravity and go bye bye - or - it would begin to slowly creep back towards the Earth again and remain our moon after expending momentum (unless eventually it crept too close to us and the Earth's gravity tore it to pieces - in which case it would mean another stroll through mass extinctionville). It's not anything to worry about - because by the time the moon hit's a geosynchronous stall - squids will be driving trucks and using telephones, and humanity will either be extinct - or our antecedents will have half the galaxy colonized, lol.
Remember that just 100 years ago - flying from New York to London in twelve hours was as ridiculous a concept as leprechauns granting wishes.
Posted By: JimPI do believe the Earth's moon is tidally locked already.
As it helps slow down the Earth's rotation speed, the moon slowly away from the Earth.
I forget exctly what happens as it gets too far away from the Earth for the Earth's gravity to hold on to it.
But it does keep the Earth from making 90 degree wobbles.
Hi Jim, tidally locked is different than geosychronously stalled. He's talking about a time when the moon orbits the Earth at exactly the same speed as the Earth rotates - in which case the moon would not be visible from the other eastern / western hemisphere year round. It's when the moon will hit it's peak as far as it's momentum away from the Earth is concerned - when the difference between the moon's outward momentum, and the Earth's gravitational pull = zero. If the moon's outward momentum energy exceeds the Earth's gravitational pull by only a tiny fraction for too long - then the moon will continue drifting into deep space until captured either by the sun's gravity as a minor planet - or possible by one of the giant planets on the outskirts - or it will just keep going like the Pioneer probe.
Another new image - an Earth like world with a mars like moon that is rich in water ice and that has a thin carbon dioxide atmosphere. The ice and snow on the moon are a salmon pink shade due to frequent dust storms kicking up oxidized dust into it's atmosphere and mixing it with water ice condensation. In the background are the reminants of an ancient supernova.
The star Betelgeuse - an unstable red supergiant in the constellation Orion, at a distance of 430 LY - is due to explode into a super nova at any time. When it does - it will probably produce a similiar spectacle from our viewpoint, but if it were to happen today - we would not see it for 430 years - if it happened 430 years ago - we will see some fresh stellar fireworks in our life times. The explosion might produce a very dim night time "daylight" for as short as a few weeks, or for as long as a year or two on Earth.
Here's an image that portrays a spacefaring civilization dropping a visit on it's dieing ancestrial homeworld, long since abandoned by it's inhabitants - and succumbing to the effects of it's changing sun. A world that looks somehow familiar - but just chalk it up to coincidence...
These are more or less practice images - I'm going to do a little more post production tweaking on them before I use them for product / publication illustrations, but I'll probably be adding an image now and then to this thread as the mood strikes me - that way maybe I can show folks what Fractal Terrains can do, and inspire them to take their game / fictional worlds beyond just 2d decorative maps.
My symbol project for CC3 is also still an ongoing thing as well, although I'm kinda bummed out because they look "cartoony" when compared to everybody else's styles, so I've got to expand the catalogue rather than trash it probably - and Terraformer is also an ongoing thing to (always will be I guess - as usual). I haven't really been as lively as I usually am lately - otherwise I might've accomplished more (at least as much as I wanted to, lol) - so I must be feeling my age a bit, lol. I find that naps are getting more frequent - and my butt feels like it weighs 300 lbs. Lol.
P.S.
Kudos to jslayton - you really started something awsome pal...
Comments
Remember that just 100 years ago - flying from New York to London in twelve hours was as ridiculous a concept as leprechauns granting wishes.
As it helps slow down the Earth's rotation speed, the moon slowly away from the Earth.
I forget exctly what happens as it gets too far away from the Earth for the Earth's gravity to hold on to it.
But it does keep the Earth from making 90 degree wobbles.
tidally locked is different than geosychronously stalled. He's talking about a time when the moon orbits the Earth at exactly the same speed as the Earth rotates - in which case the moon would not be visible from the other eastern / western hemisphere year round. It's when the moon will hit it's peak as far as it's momentum away from the Earth is concerned - when the difference between the moon's outward momentum, and the Earth's gravitational pull = zero. If the moon's outward momentum energy exceeds the Earth's gravitational pull by only a tiny fraction for too long - then the moon will continue drifting into deep space until captured either by the sun's gravity as a minor planet - or possible by one of the giant planets on the outskirts - or it will just keep going like the Pioneer probe.
The star Betelgeuse - an unstable red supergiant in the constellation Orion, at a distance of 430 LY - is due to explode into a super nova at any time. When it does - it will probably produce a similiar spectacle from our viewpoint, but if it were to happen today - we would not see it for 430 years - if it happened 430 years ago - we will see some fresh stellar fireworks in our life times. The explosion might produce a very dim night time "daylight" for as short as a few weeks, or for as long as a year or two on Earth.
Here's an image that portrays a spacefaring civilization dropping a visit on it's dieing ancestrial homeworld, long since abandoned by it's inhabitants - and succumbing to the effects of it's changing sun. A world that looks somehow familiar - but just chalk it up to coincidence...
My symbol project for CC3 is also still an ongoing thing as well, although I'm kinda bummed out because they look "cartoony" when compared to everybody else's styles, so I've got to expand the catalogue rather than trash it probably - and Terraformer is also an ongoing thing to (always will be I guess - as usual). I haven't really been as lively as I usually am lately - otherwise I might've accomplished more (at least as much as I wanted to, lol) - so I must be feeling my age a bit, lol. I find that naps are getting more frequent - and my butt feels like it weighs 300 lbs. Lol.
P.S.
Kudos to jslayton - you really started something awsome pal...