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Author Topic: trying to make the sun go into a red giant  (Read 8633 times)

nateman_doo

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trying to make the sun go into a red giant
« on: April 30, 2017, 08:04:57 PM »
First, I am new as hell to the program.  Love it, but I have such limited knowledge on how to use it.

Wanted to show my 7 year old what will happen when the sun goes red giant, so i maxed the iron.  nothing.  Am I doing something wrong?

Perhaps make a simulation out of it for the technically incompetent saps like myself :)

Angel Armageddon

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Re: trying to make the sun go into a red giant
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2017, 01:03:14 PM »
I wouldn't advise showing something as complex as a universe gravity/physics simulator to a 7 year old child.

nateman_doo

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Re: trying to make the sun go into a red giant
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2017, 02:50:56 PM »
why not?  she has a blast destroying worlds

SyzygyΣE

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Re: trying to make the sun go into a red giant
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2017, 08:42:00 PM »
One way to do this is to up the age of the star. But from what I understand, red giants aren't simulated perfectly yet. If you up the sun's age by a few billion years and put the timewarp on, say, a few million years a second, you will see it expanding and cooling no doubt.

However, the problem right now is that yes, it expands, but it hardly expands to 100 times its radius that a red giant star is theoretically able to do. It will not gobble up the inner planets like our real-life models predict it will. Like I said, it's not perfect, but the devs are working on new stellar evolution models that should address this.

And I think showing your daughter such a game would make for a great experience. She may not understand everything behind its physics, but I grew up fascinated by the workings of space not though understanding how it works—I still don't today—but through just how massive and beautiful it was.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2017, 08:51:14 PM by SyzygyΣE »

Angel Armageddon

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Re: trying to make the sun go into a red giant
« Reply #4 on: May 03, 2017, 01:03:56 PM »
why not?  she has a blast destroying worlds

Oh. My bad. I din't know your 7 year old was a girl.
Continue destroying things!

Physics_Hacker

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Re: trying to make the sun go into a red giant
« Reply #5 on: May 03, 2017, 03:26:29 PM »
I wouldn't advise showing something as complex as a universe gravity/physics simulator to a 7 year old child.

I was using the PhET "My Solar System" thing at that age and I was using the original US by like 11, there's nothing wrong with starting young.

nateman_doo

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Re: trying to make the sun go into a red giant
« Reply #6 on: May 04, 2017, 04:43:46 AM »
She liked to read the Europa report that NASA has on the landing they are planning.  She has NO idea what she is reading, but it has to do with space, and gets her a chance to read big words.   

She is OBSESSED with space.  I just hope she doesnt get turned off when she realizes how much math is involved... like I did.  Not that i ever got turned off by it, but knew it could NEVER be any kind of career.  Hopefully she got the math skills of her mom.  Then she has a damn good chance of making it into the sciences.  She wants to be an astrophysicist

nateman_doo

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Re: trying to make the sun go into a red giant
« Reply #7 on: May 05, 2017, 07:10:07 PM »
I didnt see where to change the age of the sun. 

SyzygyΣE

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Re: trying to make the sun go into a red giant
« Reply #8 on: May 05, 2017, 07:35:14 PM »
I didnt see where to change the age of the sun.
Just to note, you should also switch off and switch on the radius from composition button just above the age button to see its effects.

Alternatively, increase timewarp rate to see stellar evolution.