Let’s see if you are ready to be a scientist in a science fiction movie. Let’s a
ID: 231754 • Letter: L
Question
Let’s see if you are ready to be a scientist in a science fiction movie. Let’s assume your spaceship has entered a new star system, and identifies a planet with free water, nitrogen-oxygen-carbon dioxide atmosphere. Your sensors (man, would I ever like to get my hands on those sensors!) indicate that the planet has a fast rotation (0.5 Earth days), and no seasons (the planet’s axis of rotation is perpendicular to the plane of rotation, and the orbit is essentially circular). Sensors also determine that temperatures at the equator routinely reach lethal limits during the hottest part of the day, and temperatures at the poles routinely research lethal limits during the coldest part of the night. Your ship commander (I guess that’s me) wants your predictions about life on the planet, especially how it might differ from life on Earth. What do you say?
(Please answer by typing, thank you very much.)
Explanation / Answer
Lives in that planet would definitely different from that of the Earth. The days are only 12 hours long. Years are 730 days long. The days would be only half of that of the earth and so the living things bodies would have a very different sleeping schedule. Animals also have a new way of life. The animals that hunt at night may be more efficient because they would have fewer dark hours in which to catch their prey. Since plants would still be getting the same amount of sunlight, I don't think that they would have much of a problem adjusting. I believe the life on that planet would be very fast than life on earth. They would sleep only 4 hours at night instead of 8 and to eat only 1 or 2 meals a day just for starters.
Also the planet has no season, so the temperature and precipitation pattern would not vary much. It would still be warm at the equator and cold at the poles. The most profound impact on temperatures would be at the poles. The polar areas would have much more uniform temperatures year round and the sun would always be low on the horizon. There is a fairly constant weather all days but an important observation is that temperatures at the equator reach regularly the fatal limits during the hottest part of the day, and temperatures at the poles routinely reach regularly the fatal limits during the coldest part of the night.
Planet’s ecology would be severely different. There would be no seasonal floods, cyclones, monsoon, or forest fires. There would be different kind of plants and animals.
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