Doing research for a short story.
a) How many planets can fit inside a suns goldilocks zone with normal system development (for small medium and large suns)
b) Is it possible for more than one planet to aggregate in the same orbit
c) In a binary system is it possible for the 2nd much smaller sun to orbit close to parent star without disrupting planetary orbits too much
Thanks for your time
a) How many planets can fit inside a suns goldilocks zone with normal system development (for small medium and large suns)
b) Is it possible for more than one planet to aggregate in the same orbit
c) In a binary system is it possible for the 2nd much smaller sun to orbit close to parent star without disrupting planetary orbits too much
Thanks for your time
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a) The answer to this one really depends. The Goldilocks zone (the fancy scientific name is Habitable Zone) varies with every star depending on the stars size. For example VY Canis Majoris is extraordinarily massive and therefore the habitable zone that it produces would be much larger than a smaller star like our own which has a relatively small goldilocks zone. A large star would also require the habitable zone to start at a point that was much further away from the star because they are just so hot and therefor emit so much energy.
b)This would be impossible. Theoretically, if they have really funky orbits that allowed them to be slightly ahead of each other at all times, it would only last for so long... and the solar system is down to wait (after all its been chillin' for about 4.55 billion years now). Eventually, more likely sooner rather than later, they would collide with each other. This happened frequently in the early solar system, one such collision is responsible for our moon.
--> by the way this process is called accretion, so your question would be, "....more than one planet to have accreted in the same orbit." Its another one of those fancy science words.
c) In a binary system the two stars that compose the system do orbit around each other but the orbits are hardly comparable to planetary orbits; These things are HUGE and their orbits are unimaginably large. There is a possibility that a star in a binary system could have planets and that those planets could be affected by the other star but, like I said, these orbits are huge so you would expect to see all of the planets flung out into space because of the gravity of a star's counterpart in a binary system. Not saying this couldn't conceivably happen.... Just that it would be improbable... and super cool to watch happen.
b)This would be impossible. Theoretically, if they have really funky orbits that allowed them to be slightly ahead of each other at all times, it would only last for so long... and the solar system is down to wait (after all its been chillin' for about 4.55 billion years now). Eventually, more likely sooner rather than later, they would collide with each other. This happened frequently in the early solar system, one such collision is responsible for our moon.
--> by the way this process is called accretion, so your question would be, "....more than one planet to have accreted in the same orbit." Its another one of those fancy science words.
c) In a binary system the two stars that compose the system do orbit around each other but the orbits are hardly comparable to planetary orbits; These things are HUGE and their orbits are unimaginably large. There is a possibility that a star in a binary system could have planets and that those planets could be affected by the other star but, like I said, these orbits are huge so you would expect to see all of the planets flung out into space because of the gravity of a star's counterpart in a binary system. Not saying this couldn't conceivably happen.... Just that it would be improbable... and super cool to watch happen.
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