Artifexian Ideas

Project Gaia
Brown Dwarf "Stars": too small for fusion, so they aren't proper stars. Would it make sense as the fire plane since fire is plasma? Or should the fire plane still be a planet with high volcanism?
Star Design: O B A F G K M stars have a suitable lifetime for "evolution." M stars are the longest lived, but are "cool" enough that the "habitable" zone is so close to the surface the suffer solar winds and the like. F stars and large produce enough UV light to boil away normal atmospheres (in the habitable zone especially). Binary stars cause gravitational instability. Ideal range is 0.6 - 1.4 Solar Masses.

• 1 = out sun's values
• Luminosity (L) = M⁴
• Diameter (D) = M^0.74
• Surface Temperature (T) = M^0.505
• Life Time (V) = M^-2.5
• Habitable Zone (Radius supporting liquid water, R) = sqrt(L), with range = [.95*R, 1.37*R]
  

Galactic Habitable Zone: These rules apply to spiral galaxies, because the other types of galaxies because the other kinds are generally less habitable.

1. Solar System should be in the galactic plane of the galactic disk between arms of the spiral galaxy, orbiting in a near perfect circle to maintain its position in the disk. (Galactic bulge and spiral arms are too dense with other stars, causing many different problems.)
2. Solar system needs to be in a region dense with the elements necessary from life, which is a region roughly 1/2 to 2/3rds out from the center.
   

Solar System Design: This is based on designing a system much like our own.

1. The first step is to design a star based on the above rules.
2. Determine the inner and outer boundaries. Inside the inner boundary, the sun's gravity pulls objects into itself. Outside the outer boundary, the sun's gravity isn't enough to hold onto objects. I (inner) = 0.1 * M AU; O (outer) = 40 * M AU. (AU = astronomical units)
3. Frost Line. R = 4.85*sqrt(L).
4. Largest gas giant forms 1 - 1.2 AU away from frost line.
5. Place the inhabited world in the habitable zone.
6. Other planetary bodies tend to radiate out logarithmic, and tend to have orbits that are between 1.4 - 2.0 times the radius of the next closest object. Start from the gas giant and work out, then start from the gas giant again and work back in (one of these will be the inhabited world). Double check that no planets are < 0.15 AU of each other, because those orbits are gravitational-ly unstable with each other.
   

Alternative Solar Systems: Our solar system is very unusual. Alternatives include Hot Jupiter, Frost Line, Highly Elliptical, S.T.I.P.S., dusty systems (multiple asteroid belts), failed star systems (brown dwarf orbits the star), P-type (multiple stars close together), S-type (multiple stars far apart). Several videos about multiple star systems exist, if we want to get freaky. Maybe S-Type, because that would be cool.
Lagrange Points, etc.: These are points that exist within any binary system. At these points, a new body orbiting the prime moves at the same speed as the existing orbiting body, because of the interactions of gravity of the old body and centripetal force. L1, 2, 3 and relatively unstable, but L4 and L5 are fairly stable, and can host smaller celestial objects. If the two objects in the binary system are placed at two of the vertices of equilateral triangles, then L4 and L5 are at the other vertex. The old body could be a gas giant with co-orbital habitable planets, or the old and the Lagrangian could be co-orbital habitable planets.
Perception of the Heavens:

• How bright is the star? Apparent Brightness AB = L/D², with L = solar L, D = # of AU
• How bright are the planets? Albedo is percent reflection from 0 - 1. AB = (A*L*R_b²)/(D²*d_AB²) with A = albedo, L = luminosity in watts, R_b = radius of observed planet, D distance from sun to observed planet, and d_AB = distance between planets (changing over annual cycles). The minimum brightness for naked eye viewing is 1.3 x 10^-7 W/m².
• Relative sizes of suns and planets in the sky. Small angle approximation. Delta = d/D. d = diameter of viewed object, D is distance between observer and object, delta is the viewing angle it occupies. Using kilometers produces a radians measure meant, but using solar references produces a ... solar reference (solar delta = 0.5 degrees of the sky). Our moon also takes up 0.5 degrees of sky, allowing for total solar eclipses.
  

Use 7 Types of (Poke)Planets to design the four planes
|Overarching Worldbuilding Equation: g = M/R² = R*p, gravity, mass, radius, density, with Earth values of 1, M_e
Dwarf Planets: bodies that are large enough to be mostly spherical, but have not managed to clear their orbitals of other objects.

• M: 0.0001 - 0.1 M (at 0.1 M they clear their own orbit, no longer dwarves)
• R: > 0.03 R
• These ranges are guidelines, not hard rules. g and p are determined from equation. The density will determine the primary composition of the planet.
• V_esc = sqrt(M/R), escape velocity from the planets surface, also include circumference, surface area, and volume for more information
• Always cross reference finished planet with real wikipedia dwarf planets
  

Gas Giants: Our real gas giants are really weird, and the four planets shouldn't really be categorized together. See video on Gas Giant Myths.

• M: 10 M - 13 M_j (Jupiter mass, above this range deuterium fusion occurs)
• R: Between 2 - 13 M_j, the radius will always be 1R_j, because gravity condenses it, but mass below that can be larger, up to 1.8R_j
• P: there are limits to p, which functionally limits R, with the lowest absolute density measured at 0.03 g/cm³
• Gas Dwarf: gas planet, but smaller than Uranus / Neptune. These are transitional worlds between gas, ocean, and rocky planets. Will have >2 R, and 1 - 20 M (relative to earth now). There is a chart in the Build a Gas Planet video for appropriate values.
  

Terrestrial Planets: Primarily composed of silica rocks surrounding molten metal core (iron), with topographical features such as volcanoes. Also the likely habitable worlds.

• M: 0.1 - 10 M (larger than 10 begins accreting hydrogen and helium and spontaneously forms a gas dwarf). However, to be habitable, the real range is 0.1 - 3.5 M.
• R: 0.5 - 1.5 R
• g: 0.4 - 1.6 g
• Use the planet building chart with the appropriate ranges for more characteristics. Needs to be a high silicate planet to be earth-like (red zone).
• Ocean Planet: use the same ranges, but aim for the blue band.
  

Orbital Characteristics: Kepler's 3 Laws of Planetary Motion (What is an Orbit?)

• Semi-Major Axis (a): Periapsis (q) is the closest point to the star, Apoapsis (Q) is the furthest point from the star. a = (q+Q)/2. q = a*(1-e). Q = a*(1+e).
• Semi-Minor Axis (b): b = a*sqrt(1-e²)
• Eccentricity (e): deviation from perfect circle. (0 - 1).
• Inclination (i): deviation from equatorial plane of the sun. Ascending and Descending nodes mark intersection of planet orbit with this plane. (0 - 180). Prograde is between 0 - 90, which is normal, but most are within 10 degrees of reference building.
• Longitude of the Ascending Node (omega): measures yaw of obit from reference line to ascending node. Reference line is only meaningful to compare relative yaw of different planets. (0 - 360) (only necessary for 3D worldbuilding)
• Argument of Periapsis (small omega): Angle between periapsis and ascending node through the center of the star. Measures row of planet. (0 - 360), (only necessary for 3D worldbuilding)
• True Anomaly (theta): position of the planet in its orbit currently, degrees off from periapsis. (0 - 360), (only necessary for 3D worldbuilding)
• Orbital Period (P): The length of 1 year. P = sqrt(a³/M). Star Mass.
• Orbital Velocity (V_o): V_o = sqrt(M/a). Star Mass.
• Use the series of videos on this topic for common values.
• Earth-like Vales: a and e must be defined so the full range fall in the habitable zone. e is usually <0.2.
• Average Eccentricity: ave.e = 0.584*N^-1.2, where N is the number of planets in the system, so eccentricity decreases with the number of planets.
• Average inclination is around 2 degrees
  

Terrestrial Moons: Minor moons are natural satellites to small to force a spherical shape from their own gravity. Major moons do have enough gravity to force themselves into spherical shape (R > 0.03 earth radii).

• Composition: Either mostly rocky or mostly icy. Usually rocky moons form close to the sun, icy moon further from it.
• Amount: Terrestrial planets are unlikely to have a lot of moons because of solar tides, etc.
• Habitability: habitable worlds must have 1+ major moons to moderate axial tilt
  

Based on the expected composition, determine the weighted average density. Determine mass from density and radii. The closer the radii and overall mass is the primary, the closer the system moves towards a double planet system, which are unusual but cool.
g = M/R², to determine surface gravity relative to Earth's. Satellites must fall within the Hill Sphere of their primary.
Outer boundary is H_s = a * cube.root(m/M) * 235, a is semi-major axis of planet's orbit (AU), m = planet mass (Earth masses), M = star mass (Sun masses), result is in Earth radii. Inner limit is defined by Roche Limit R_L = 2.44 * R * cube.root(p_p/p_s), primary and secondary, all relative to earth.
Moons tend to be natural satellites, so they orbit close with prograde spins, have low inclination and low eccentricity.
If you want 2 separate major moons, they cannot come within 10 planetary radii of each other without destroying each other.

• Orbital Period: P = 0.0588*sqrt(R³/(M+m)), R is orbital radius in earth radii, sum of mass in earth masses, result in earth days.
  

Other terrestrial planets will only have rocky minor moons. (Easiest to model as ellipsoids). Because they are likely captured asteroids, they can be anywhere within the Hill sphere.
Gas Giants Moon System and Habitable Moons: Probs just rewatch the video when putting those moons in place.
Constructing Calendars: Agrarian societies tend to favor solar calendars to keep track of seasons. Lunar calendars are preferred in places with limited seasonal variation, and are easier to adopt because you can just look up in the sky to know when in the moth you are. Luni-solar calendars are more complex, and more fun. Re-watch the three videos when making my own calendars to get new ideas. Use the spreadsheet provided for ease of development. Remember that standardized time is unusual and only matters to however accurate a people's timekeeping devices are.
Season Building - Axial Tilt: (Earth is 23.4 degrees), Axial tilt is the deviation of the rotational axis from perfectly perpendicular to the orbital plane. Tilt ranges from 0 - 180 degrees. Prograde = 0 - 90, Retrograde = 90 - 180. Habitable world need to be between 0 - 80 (110 - 180) at maximum. However, the higher the tilt the warmer the planet, more extreme the season, and the less snow, ice, humidity and clouds. The tropic lines (latitude = tilt degrees) define the region that receives at least one day of direct overhead sunlight. The polar lines (latitude = 90 - tilt) define the regions that receive at least one day of total night and total day per year.
Albedo- Mapping w/ Temperature: average temp of planet surface T = L^1/4/D^1/2 with T relative to earth (288K), L luminosity relative to sun, and D distance in AU. However, this does not account for greenhouse affects. Planet Temperature calculator accounts for this. Bond Albedo: how reflective the planet's surface is (higher values means more light reflected and cooler planet). Greenhouse affect is the opposite, but don't mess with it too much. Spreadsheet provided allows determination of albedo from percent coverage of different biome types. This could also be determined after the fact by determining the biomes that cover the world then calculating albedo.
Fantasy Map - Plate Tectonics: The plates are moved by magma currents in the mantle. Land is either on a plate or at the meeting points between plates.

• Continental: Thick (10 - 70 km), Felsic composition (granite, quartz, etc.) low density (~2.7 g/cm³)
• Oceanic: Thin (5 - 10 km), Mafic composition (basalt, etc.), high density (~3.0 g/cm³)
• Boundary Types: Convergent (moving towards each other), Divergent (away from each other), Transform (sliding past each other)
  

  	Ocean-Ocean	Continental-Continental	Oceanic-Continental
  Convergent	One plate buckles under the other, mutual trench, smaller mountains in the form of islands (including volcanic) and earthquakes (which cause tsunamis)	Both pushed up, causing huge mountains and many earthquakes.	Oceanic subducts below continental, forming mountains on the continental plate, and ocean trench (subduction zone) on oceanic plate, with earthquakes and volcanoes on both.
  Divergent	Crust thins as they push apart. Mid-ocean ridge from newly formed crust with rift valley in center, earthquakes, and volcanic islands if ocean is shallow enough.	Same as ocean ocean, but all on land, so rift valley is probably filled with water.	New crust quickly forms of oceanic thickness, becoming an ocean-ocean boundary.
  Transform	Portions of oceanic plates move at different speeds, causing transform faults. Lots of earthquakes.	Most common form. Lots of earthquakes.	N/A

• Earth has 7- 8 major plates, ~10 minor plates, and lots of micro plates; try to use similar numbers. Left and right edges of 2D images need to match. No more than three plates should interact at a given point (lines and crosses no four corners points.
• Include random hotspots, places where the crust is thin and the mantle is hotter, causing chains of islands to form as the plate moves over them.
• Consider watching the tutorial video for the software he uses
  

Earth-like Atmospheres: 78% N₂, 21% O₂, 1% Argon, with trace H₂O, CO₂, and others. Use the spreadsheet to determine actual values for new planet. Consult video for neat ideas about effects of changes.
Atmosphere Circulation - Winds and Weather: The lower atmosphere is basically a heat circulation mechanism, equilibrium heat between equator and poles.

• Air rises at Equator, deflected east by Coriolis effect. At 30 N/S it is due east, so it begins to sink, circling back towards the equator and heading west (Trade Winds, Hadley Cell).
• Air also rises are 60 degrees, rises and moves eastward until it hits the poles, where is sinks and comes back west. This the polar cell and creates the polar Easterlies (blow from the east to the west).
• The middle region between them is the Ferrel Cell, with prevailing winds called the Westerlies.
• Identical structures occur on both hemispheres. The meeting points between zones are the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone, the Subtropical Ridges, and the Polar Fronts.
• Regions where warm air rises are low pressure regions with high rainfall, regions where cold air falls are high pressure regions with low rainfall.
• Planets that rotate slower than earth will have 1 cell per hemisphere (1/2 earth speed), planets that rotate faster will have more cells. 1 - 2x earth speed (24 - 12 hours) have three cells (normal), 4x speed (6 hours) have 7 cells per hemispheres, and 8x (3 hours) have five cells per hemisphere. Use the video to note the latitudes of boundaries. Description has more detailed notes for how to track pressure cells.
• Each of the cells as defines large climate zones (hot, temperate, cold) and living things naturally adapted to one zone will struggle much more in the next, making things such as agriculture difficult to export across those boundaries but easy to export within those boundaries. Similarly, empires tend to expand with their zone and have issue conquering outside it without significant technological advances. Zonal landmasses are more likely to develop advanced civilizations.
• The meeting points between zones are maritime dead-zones with limited winds.
• Tropical cyclones (hurricanes) form between 5 and 20 degrees over the ocean. Then they make landfall in the direction of the prevailing wind.
• Thunderstorms occur when A) cold air moves into warm, moist air (around the US) B) where air moves up over lots of water (around the equator), and C) near mountains, which catch and dump rain
• Tornadoes occur in the Ferrel cell between 30 and 50 degrees, especially over large, flatter regions. The Ferrel cell is caused by turbulence from the other cells, which makes it more dynamic in the direction of winds, making tornadoes more likely. Even more likely with warm moist air at low levels and cool dry air up high (category A for thunderstorms, which is why US is so high in tornadoes).
  

Ocean Currents: Hard to describe without literally copying everything from the video. Remember currents deflect at the continental shelf, not the actual continent. Cold current create dryer coasts, warmer waters create wetter coasts. But cool coastal regions are nutrient rich and form fishing hotspots. Reefs form near hot currents on the coast. Large ocean may cause ENSO events.
Tides: Centrifugal forces and gravitational attraction creates a tidal bulge outwards towards the moon. The rotation of the earth through the bulges creates the tides. The sun technically also creates tides, either amplifying or weakening the moon's effect. Most regions experience semi-diurnal tides (two high and low per day) with slight offset for moon rotation. Some regions experience ... weird tides. Calculator with simplified equations in spreadsheets. Inter-tidal zones are very productive with lots of marine life getting washed ashore to be scavenged by land animals which are in turn hunted by civilized races and hunter gather types. Tidal zones are also required for evolution out of the oceans onto land because they form a halfway / training ground. The more intense the tides, the easier it is to evolve onto land.
Sky and Plant Color: sky color is determined based on the types of molecules in the atmosphere, allowing different colors to develop with different compositions. Sky color can also be determined by the size of the star, because the size will determine the dominant wavelengths of light received. Sky algae could color the sky green (if they could somehow be suspended). Planets will either be the same color as the star, or the complementary color. If they are the same, they are blocking the most common wavelength to avoid damaging effects and feeding on the leftovers. If they are the complement, they are capitalizing on the primary energy available. Color calculator in video description.
Realistic Climates: Apply climate classification system based on precipitation and temperature. Probably best to watch videos while applying each to map.
Watch the Atlas series for notes on constructing maps if I want an alternative perspective.
Ores and Hydrocarbon Locations:

• Coal: remains of ancient tropical / subtropical swamps. They die in anoxic conditions and are compressed into peat and then coal, with more compression producing higher grade coal. Coal reserves are where old tropical lowland swamps used to be. Foothills should have higher grade coal, but not in the interior of modern inland mountains. Also place new peat reserves in modern lowlying wetlands.
• Oil & Gas: made from ancient plankton that formed an ooze on the bottom of the seafloor. Oil forms at a narrow window of depths, natural gas in a wider range. Source rock is hard to drill into, but oil and gas are less dense than water, so they seep upwards until they escape or hit a seal rock (impermeable). Seal rocks occur at tectonic folds, fault lines, or near salt deposits. Occur in regions that were once shallow tropical seas and lakes, but have since been covered by land in trap formation. Also foreland basins.
• Salt Deposits: occur in regions which were once inland deserts. Salt pans also include lithium deposits.
• Most significant ore deposits form along volcanically active plate boundaries, specifically the top plate in subduction zones or in hot spots. The largest deposits will be Porphyry Copper (hydrothermal copper) with copper only, copper-gold, copper-molybdenum, molybdenum only, with minor amounts of lead, zinc, and silver in all cases. Include a few tin-tungsten deposits.
• Epithermal Gold: (once the root of old hot springs) near the former, at same fault lines in trailing chain. First deposit is Gold w/ minor silver/copper, next gold w/ minor silver/lead/zinc, last gold w/ minor silver/mercury.
• IOCG: (iron oxide-copper-gold) slightly older rock in the same region, and serve as a source of uranium. Also occur in continental rifting zones.
• Nickel-Copper & PGE-Chromium: (PGE = platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium, iridium) very rare, and occur in ancient cratots, the old stable interior regions of continental plates far from active plate boundaries. Diamond deposits occur in the same areas (even rarer)
• VMS (volcanogenic massive sulfide): found in and around mountainous regions (new and old). Copper-zinc deposits w/ minor lead, silver, gold, cobalt, tin, selenium, manganese, cadmium formed from black smokers on ancient seafloors pushed up by mountain building.
• BIF (banded iron formation): in and around old mountain chains. Occur when very old oceans became oxygen rich enough to precipitate out iron oxide onto the seafloor in bands.
• SedEx (sedimentary exhalative deposit): continental sedimentary basins, and are fairly uncommon. Contain primarily lead-zinc-silver.
• Residual Mineral Deposits: occur in rainforests and other extremely wet regions, which are so wet soil leeching makes the soil itself act as a soil deposit. Primary aluminium source.
• Secondary Enrichment: ground water leeches and disolves the ore deposit, concentrating it in a new source. These should be placed downhill from the primary. This is the primary uranium deposit (MVT)
• Placer Deposits: exposed metals on cliff sides erodes into the water and concentrates downstream.