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Cirax
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Posts: 29
Joined: 30 Jan 2017 08:36
Location: PV Telescopii

Exoplanets by Cirax

12 Dec 2017 13:50

This is a compilation of all my exoplanets mods.

I tried to be realistic in their expected features according the astrophysical data we know.

Summary of systems:

-Ross 128 b
-Proxima b
-Trappist-1 system

INSTALLATION: JUST DRAG A PAK FILE INTO YOUR ADDONS FOLDER IN SPACE ENGINE.
WARNING: INSTALL JUST ONE VERSION OF THE PLANET OR SYSTEM.


ROSS 128 b
0-ross128-b.jpg
Click on the photo for a full screen picture

Discovered by a group of astrophysics leaded by X. Bonfils in September 2017 using the Radial Velocity method is one the exoplanets inside the habitable zone closest to Earth.

Ross 128 is a red dwarf star at just 10 ly of distance.  Like many others red dwarfs has some flare activity but compared with other M dwarfs is quite calm.  The problem with active flare red dwarfs is that if there is a planet near it the high amount of ionized particles during the flare (they can cross several times the orbit of a planet in the habitable zone) will most probably wipe out any atmosphere forming in the planet without a powerful magnetic field.  But this is not the case of Ross 128 so the planet has more chances to develop some kind of live and water in the terminator zone, and also retain a dense atmosphere.

The paper also notice that is in the "hot" zone of the habitable zone so most of the water (if there is any) will evaporate but with chances to survive in the night-day zone (terminator).

I made 3 versions I prefer the Terra Desert option but I made 3 more.

Ross 128 b Desert

The planet is just a Mars like planet without any liquid water and a thin atmosphere.

[DOWNLOAD ROSS 128 b DESERT]

Ross 128 b Terra

An Earth-like planet with a lot of water and a dense atmosphere.

[DOWNLOAD ROSS 128b TERRA]

Ross 128 b Desert Terra

If there is any water in Ross 128 b it should be restricted to the terminator zone.  The rest of the planet is a giant desert.

[DOWNLOAD ROSS 128b DESERT TERRA]

Ross 128 b Desert Terra with live

Same as above but with live.  The plants have a red colour to capture better the infrared and red light.  The presence of oxygen in the atmosphere colour the sky with a beautiful blue. 

[DOWNLOAD ROSS 128b LIVING DESERT TERRA]

PROXIMA b
1-prox-b.jpg
Click on the photo for a full screen picture

Hi, these are my six procedural versions of the recently discovered Proxima b planet around the closest star to the sun.

I made six different versions of the planet: a mars, venus, selena and earth like planets. As long we only know roughly its mass and orbit parameters and nothing about its atmosphere composition or surface, I made the most probably ones.

I found the Proxima b Mars like version the most probably scenario according the data we know about Proxima. The star is a flare star, meaning that from time to time the star emits gigantic sun flares that scorch the surface of the planet destroying its atmosphere, also there is a lot of highly ionized radiation coming from the coronal material expelled and even X Rays. That makes almost impossible to sustain any live in the surface and even a dense atmosphere.

The possibility of the planet to produce a powerful magnetic field to protect itself from the flares is low. The planet has a rotation period of some more of 11 days, with the internal dynamo model to produce this field its rotation seems to be too slow, so it will be its magnetic field (I could be totally wrong I'm not astronomer lol)

Notice I changed Proxima data itself because Space engine seems to use the apparent magnitude in the visual band as the main value to calculate the temperatures. This works well with the most of the visible main sequence stars, but it has problems with most extreme ones (M stars like Proxima and with O, B class stars). In the case of the red dwarfs (M class) most of the energy its emitted in the infrared, so it doesn't occur in the visual band (the apparent magnitude in SE refers to the visual band), so to get a more realist value for temperature I commented the AppMagn value and added the luminosity value (I also added some more data) and now works great.

MARS LIKE PROXIMA b

This version supposes a Proxima b without an enough magnetic field to protect itself, but with some volcanic activity to replace it. In this mars like version big asteroids had made big craters crossing without problems its thin atmosphere.

DOWNLOAD MARS LIKE

FEATURES: Big craters, some volcanoes, dry rivers, weak clouds, thin atmosphere, hills and dunes,no auroras.

TERRA LIKE TIDAL LOCKED PROXIMA b

In this version Proxima b has a powerful magnetic field that protects it from the sun flares making possible the existence of a consistent atmosphere. With a dense atmosphere the planet can also sustain an ocean that extends around the terminator zone (day-night separation zone).

DOWNLOAD TERRA LIKE

FEATURES: No craters, some volcanoes, water rivers, ocean, big clouds, dense atmosphere, auroras.


TERRA LIKE TIDAL LOCKED WITH LIVE

Same as above but with a red flora and beautiful blue skies.

DOWNLOAD LIVING TERRA LIKE

TERRA LIKE 3:2 COASTLINE PROXIMA b
 
A varied coastline aligned with the equator, with a lot of rivers and swamps.  The ocean is continuous in its 3/4 parts of the equator.

DOWNLOAD TERRA LIKE 3:2

TERRA LIKE 3:2 LARGE OCEAN PROXIMA b

Looks closer to the model but I think is some boring, it's just an almost continuous ocean at 2/3 of the globe longitude, between two great polar caps and with a tear looking.

DOWNLOAD TERRA LIKE 3:2 LARGE OCEAN

VENUS LIKE PROXIMA b

Proxima b is a hell planet in this like venus version. An intense volcanic activity produces a lot of greenhouse gases that keep the heat several hundred degrees beyond the boiling water temperature. Due this the planet has no icecap in the night hemisphere.

DOWNLOAD VENUS LIKE

SELENA LIKE PROXIMA b

The last option.  Proxima b has been stripped away from its atmosphere due the high activity of the star, over billions of years of asteroid bombardment now the planet looks like our moon with some marias and long ago extinct big volcanoes.  It also has a frozen white zone around the terminator line.

DOWNLOAD SELENA LIKE

TRAPPIST-1 SYSTEM
2-trappist-1.jpg
Click on the photo for a full screen picture

These are my procedural planets for the TRAPPIST-1 Star.  Four of them lay in the habitable zone (maybe more).

I focused the design in real data from Updated Masses for the TRAPPIST-1 Planets astronomical article April 2017.  In it the estimated mean densities of the planets reveal that the three closest planets are rocky while the rest are near the density of the water making them oceanic or ice worlds.

To add some variety to the oceanic worlds (not just a covered oceanic plain and boring world) I changed the size of the ice layer a some minor differences.

You can download it from here (20/12/2017 version):

[DOWNLOAD TRAPPIST-1 SYSTEM]

I also added a new "hostile" version of the system.  Trappist-1 is a very active flare star so the most inner planets can be heavy affected by the flares and losed most of their atmospheres.  The other planets have also a lighter cloud layer and atmospheres

Preview of the system in hostile version:
3-trappist-1 h.jpg
Click on the photo for a full screen picture

You can download it from here (20/12/2017 version):

[DOWNLOAD TRAPPIST-1 SYSTEM HOSTILE]

Features of the planets of Trappist-1 as I imagine:

TRAPPIST-1 b


The closest planet to its sun is heavily affected by the tidal effect from the star making it some kind of hot Io.  It's a volcanic world with few craters and a young surface.  I added in the update a dark lava surface making it IMO a less boring planet.

TRAPPIST-1 c

This planet is still too close to the sun and due it's estimated mass, (1.63 times the Earth mass) which allow it to sustain a great atmosphere, I supposed is a Venusian world.

In the design I wanted to reflect that in this kind of cloud covered worlds the surface is dark due the fact the clouds reflect most of the light that would come to the surface, so I added another dark cloud layer under the bright one (to add a cloudy effect), darkened a lot the atmosphere but also making it less opaque.

Resuming, from the space the planet looks like Venus (a bight world) but if you land the surface and the sky is dark and the atmosphere is more transparent.

TRAPPIST-1 d

This rocky world stays close to the habitable zone, the central part of the planet is hot and devoid of any liquid water but in the terminator zone the temperatures are warmer allowing the presence of liquid water.  In that zone I placed a big sea and some big lakes and rivers.

TRAPPIST-1 e

This covered water world has a floating ice layer over it in the nocturnal face. The warm water of the surface coming from the tropics melts part of the ice breaking into the dark side of the globe.

TRAPPIST-1 f

Stil not cold enough to sustain a dense ice layer, Trappist-f has some ice swamps, lakes made when big asteroids broke the ice and rivers where different plates crush together...

TRAPPIST-1 g

It has a dense crust of ice except in the latitudes where the red sun is still enough powerful to melt it and break some parts of the polar cap into icebergs where they float over it until the sun also shrikes them and finally they melt totally. 

TRAPPIST-1 h

The last planet (right now) of TRAPPIST-1 is just an iceworld. There is no liquid water in the surface, it's crossed by multiple cracks and has some craters.  Under the ice layer it could be a liquid water ocean warmed by the hotter mantle. 
Last edited by Cirax on 15 Aug 2018 12:06, edited 25 times in total.
My work for SE:
Textures for the solar system bodies:Click Here
Catalogs of binary stars, brown dwarfs, black holes and neutron stars (already in official SE).
Proxima b (6 versions):Click Here
Trappist-1: Click Here
 
User avatar
Cirax
Space Tourist
Space Tourist
Topic Author
Posts: 29
Joined: 30 Jan 2017 08:36
Location: PV Telescopii

Exoplanets by Cirax (New Ross 128 b)

13 Dec 2017 05:13

[Reserved for future updates]
My work for SE:
Textures for the solar system bodies:Click Here
Catalogs of binary stars, brown dwarfs, black holes and neutron stars (already in official SE).
Proxima b (6 versions):Click Here
Trappist-1: Click Here
 
Xenobiologist
Observer
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Posts: 1
Joined: 07 Jun 2021 20:07

Exoplanets by Cirax

07 Jun 2021 20:12

Hey, I really love the look of this mod! Sadly It doesn't seem to work with the latest version of SE :( Is there any chance that there may be an update? or at least any way for me to mess with the files to try and get it to work properly?
 
TRAPPIST-1e
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Posts: 15
Joined: 28 Dec 2022 21:53
Location: Jinjiang City, Fujian Province, China

Re: Exoplanets by Cirax

04 Jan 2023 07:37

It is seens that TRAPPIST-1g was regarded as a planet with a green and thick atmosphere, but it is regarded as a ice world now.
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