A tidally locked planet

[Azélor]

I suppose that the habitable zone would be really thin. Only the places that are at the dawn/dusk or near the middle zone would be livable. Otherwise temperature change as you move toward the poles ( center of day/night regions) to a point where water will boil or freeze instantly. Difference in temperature between the extreme would probably be over 500 degree Celsius.

I don't know if life could develop on such a planet even with the presence of a zone that as temperatures around 10-30 degree Celsius. And what about the winds, the pressure zones are always the same so the wind direction is always the same? Since the differences in temperature are extreme compared to earth, winds would be extreme too? No water in the daylight and it's all frozen in the night side. That mean few evaporation and even less rain no matter where you are.

But still I suppose life could survive with some help of the god Lingon. Or perhaps these people live in caves under the surface ?

[Jalyha]

Omg I want to live with the Cavepeople.


Wouldn't the size of the planet affect how much of the land was actually live-able?

[Kokor]

There are a number of science fiction games that can describe worlds in scientifically accurate terms. GURPS Space or related suppliments was extensively researched and can give a resonably believable results.

The 'world generation' takes into account luminosity of the sun, albedo of the planet, density of the atmosphere, percentage of ocean coverage, etc. If the sun is warm enough any ice blowing out from the night side would melt. That would provide at least some liquid water, maybe enough for extensive oceans.

You map is nice, and I agree the projection centered on the 'twilight band' makes more sense, if you think the inhabitants are biased towards the areas they live. You would have to do an overlay of an ice-cap across the night side areas.

[Azélor]

I was thinking something like this : Yaodong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Diamond]

If you want some additional reference on how another person went about representing a tidally-locked planet, this is one of the best I've ever seen: Throl: non-rotating planet by IainFluff on deviantART

[Jalyha]

Now that's gorgeous!

[Lingon]

A looooong time ?


It does make sense, but most of this is all going to be based on no more than discussion, scientific theories, conjecture and gut instinct, since no one has ever actually watched it happen.

but it makes sense.

I've no idea how long thaat would take, though :/

I'll read around and see if I can find something

Thanks, good to hear you think it sounds reasonable. Yup, it's complete speculation, but that's what makes it fun! I'm not sure it'd take that very long actually… Now I am really only guessing, but I'm thinking of savannas on Earth. Some of them only get rain once per year, and a year later, just before the next rain, they are almost desert-like. And then imagine that the sun is shining literally 24/7… It'd probably take a few generations, but, like, on a geological time scale… I think it'd be fast. Pure guesswork though, and I'll continue with the research. I appreciate that you'll read around too!

I suppose that the habitable zone would be really thin. Only the places that are at the dawn/dusk or near the middle zone would be livable. Otherwise temperature change as you move toward the poles ( center of day/night regions) to a point where water will boil or freeze instantly. Difference in temperature between the extreme would probably be over 500 degree Celsius.

I don't know if life could develop on such a planet even with the presence of a zone that as temperatures around 10-30 degree Celsius. And what about the winds, the pressure zones are always the same so the wind direction is always the same? Since the differences in temperature are extreme compared to earth, winds would be extreme too? No water in the daylight and it's all frozen in the night side. That mean few evaporation and even less rain no matter where you are.

But still I suppose life could survive with some help of the god Lingon. Or perhaps these people live in caves under the surface ?

Good thoughts! Thanks! I'm not actually concerned about life development in these conditions, as the tidal locking was sudden. Before that, the planet was very Earth-like. I think the inhabitants were at a dieselpunk-ish tech level, by the way

Omg I want to live with the Cavepeople.


Wouldn't the size of the planet affect how much of the land was actually live-able?

It sure would! Considering the size of the supercontinent, a lot of it was probably desert even before the locking. The size of the planet would affect the size of that desert. But I was thinking of an Earth-like size, for simplicity… I'm starting to feel I'm gonna need all simplicity I can get

There are a number of science fiction games that can describe worlds in scientifically accurate terms. GURPS Space or related suppliments was extensively researched and can give a resonably believable results.

The 'world generation' takes into account luminosity of the sun, albedo of the planet, density of the atmosphere, percentage of ocean coverage, etc. If the sun is warm enough any ice blowing out from the night side would melt. That would provide at least some liquid water, maybe enough for extensive oceans.

You map is nice, and I agree the projection centered on the 'twilight band' makes more sense, if you think the inhabitants are biased towards the areas they live. You would have to do an overlay of an ice-cap across the night side areas.

Thank you. Yeah, I think they would be biased like that I'm not sure if you mean anything specific with the overlay? I will show the ice cap somehow, probably by just not painting anything there

If you want some additional reference on how another person went about representing a tidally-locked planet, this is one of the best I've ever seen: Throl: non-rotating planet by IainFluff on deviantART

Well you're about to get a new favorite! Kidding, that's a cool map. I'm honestly not a big fan of the style he chose, but I will take a good look at it and read through the text to see how he solved some of the issues. Thanks for for the link, D!

[Jalyha]

Good thoughts! Thanks! I'm not actually concerned about life development in these conditions, as the tidal locking was sudden. Before that, the planet was very Earth-like. I think the inhabitants were at a dieselpunk-ish tech level, by the way

Well, now I'm concerned.

Not sure that something like, say, the Earth suddenly stopping its' rotation, and I'm picturing flooding, tsunamis, earthquakes, entire cities (states? Countries?) collapsing in on themselves...




I don't think there'd be anything simple about it o.O How do your people survive? D:

[Azélor]

it's a sudden stop... well if it's less than a week, it would still be liveable. Expect a rapid change in temperatures. But possible

[Lingon]

@Jalyha: Never said it would be simple, did I? Of course, a big part of the population died during the locking. The rest escaped to the inhabitable zone, which is terribly over-populated and can't produce food for everyone. But I think the twilight band would be pretty fertile land, with lots of meltwater coming from the glacier and around-the-clock sunshine at a low angle, so it might not be such a super-huge problem, at least for those with money.

@Azelor: Do you mean if the stop took a week, or if it's been a week since the stop? Would you mind linking to your source or posting the calculations for that? I'd like to see the parameters that gave the result, because it's not working with what I had in mind and even though I'm willing to ignore some things, I like to know what I'm ignoring (And preferably not ignore it at all.)

Here's probably the last update before I start the hand painted version, a mock-up of the composition. It also has the twilight band slightly towards the dayside, which seems the more likely way if my reasoning with wet winds keeping the soil and air moist is correct.