Alpha Centauri Bb, if it exists, can it be terraformed?

Tom Kalbfus · 2014-03-26 15:50:32

It is probably tidally locked, it probably has no atmosphere containing gases like oxygen and nitrogen, maybe some gases would be solid at room temperature. The day side is probably molten, but the night side could be solid. Basically a Super-Mercury with its surface exposed to the vacuum of space, taking advantage of the differences of heat between the day and night side, it might be possible to power a rocket with the Sun to push the planet into a wider more habitable orbit. By the time the planet reaches a habitable orbit, the molten hemisphere of the planet would probably have solidified. Then the next task is to find an atmosphere.

What do you think?

Terraformer · 2014-03-26 16:31:42

It takes... a lot of momentum and energy to move a planet, especially one deep in a gravity well. I mean a lot.

This is one of those cases where I would advocate for a full worldhouse. You could build it out of materials the planet already has. There should be plenty of Oxygen to fill it, though bound up in rocks (but you'll release a lot during building). But think of the power you'd have access to if you made the day side a solar collector...

RobertDyck · 2014-03-26 17:53:14

Clip from the movie "Chronacles of Riddick". This schene shows running across the planet Crematoria, just before dawn. Trying to stay ahead of sunlight. To quote the lead character: "There's gonna be one speed. Mine. If you can't keep up, don't step up. You'll just die."
This is what you want?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3as8hogaW8

Tom Kalbfus · 2014-03-27 10:25:50

One possibility is using the planets close proximity to the Sun to power mass drivers. Remember the mass of 1.1 Earths is only a minimum possible mass, there may be more to this planet than we think, for instance, it might be a 2 Earth mass planet and we would only need half of that material to recreate Earth. I think it is easier to move one Earth mass in little pieces. In fact we don't need 1 Earth mass to create a planet habitable for humans, one half an Earth mass will do just fine. If you assume an Earth density of the material, you take the cube root of the mass in Earth masses to find the surface gravity, so the cube root of 0.5 is 0.7937 of Earth's gravity, I think most humans can live with that, its better than we get on Mars.
So we fling the material to some collecting point at the habitable zone of either star. I think if there was some small Mars sized planet orbiting too close to Alpha Centauri A, we can use that as a target for all that flung material, and hit it in such a way as to move it out to the Habitible Zone of Alpha Centauri A. A is preferable because it is a star much like our own. ideally this would be around 1.25 AU from that star, and it would have a 15 month year. There is some question as to whether such a planet would form naturally at such a distance, but perhaps we can build a planet artificially there.

Void · 2014-04-17 10:26:13

Until you found your method to move such a planet, the dark side (If it is tidally locked) would be an interesting place. I wonder if a magma sea on the day side might overlap into the dark side in some places near the terminator? I would suppose it could be possible that the dark side would have water ice, and other ices of substances required for life. Solar sattelites in orbit for power? Or somehow tapping the heat of the magma for energy?

Housing the organic component of a "Person" underground, a robotic avitar on the surface for that "Person"?

Tom Kalbfus · 2014-04-17 16:13:16

You can get energy just by tapping temperature differences between night and day. Solar Power satellites aren't necessary, and they'll probably melt anyway. If the planet is completely molten, it might not be tidally locked, and their would be no crust, just a ball of magma that stretches with the tides much like Earth's oceans. I heard gas giants aren't likely to be tidally locked either.

Void · 2014-04-18 05:56:55

Not so fast T.K.

I stold this from Robert.... on another topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Centauri_Bb

At such high temperatures large areas of the planet's surface are likely to be molten

Therefore not all the surface, and likely not much of a dark side, if the planet it tidally locked (If it exists at all).

I have my certain entertainment with the notion of life on the dark side of such planets, not ones so hot though as a rule. But Alph Centauri of course is a draw to the imatination, if it had a planet at all.

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#1 2014-03-26 15:50:32

Alpha Centauri Bb, if it exists, can it be terraformed?

#2 2014-03-26 16:31:42

Re: Alpha Centauri Bb, if it exists, can it be terraformed?

#3 2014-03-26 17:53:14

Re: Alpha Centauri Bb, if it exists, can it be terraformed?

#4 2014-03-27 10:25:50

Re: Alpha Centauri Bb, if it exists, can it be terraformed?

#5 2014-04-17 10:26:13

Re: Alpha Centauri Bb, if it exists, can it be terraformed?

#6 2014-04-17 16:13:16

Re: Alpha Centauri Bb, if it exists, can it be terraformed?

#7 2014-04-18 05:56:55

Re: Alpha Centauri Bb, if it exists, can it be terraformed?

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