When the rogue planet, Satan, swings around the blue giant star, Beta Crucis, approaching as close as 0.93 astronomical units, it will heat up. Sure. However, it is not yet clear whether surface conditions will become suitable for an industrial base:
"'The amount and the composition of frozen material could not have been measured accurately. Nor could its behavior have been computed beforehand in sufficient detail. The problem is too complex, with too many unknowns. For example, once a gaseous atmosphere has begun to form, other volatile substances will tend to recondense at high altitudes, forming clouds which will in time disappear but which, during their existence, may reflect so much input radiation that most of the surface remains comparatively cold.'" (Chapter XI, p. 437) (For full reference, see here.)
The surface might remain cold. How about that, then?
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
But don't forget how it was explained that the waste heat produced by the heavy industries planned to be build there would also help warm up Satan.
Sean
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