The Monkeywork Of Generating Random Monkey-Unlike Solar Systems.

[FiahOwl]

Hello, I'm Fiah. You may have seen me, I've done some things here and there. But you probably came here for seeing how to generate solar systems, or you might have gotten confused and thought you could see monkeys working in this thread. In case of the latter, please leave as this is not about monkeys in any way. Thank you, and remember when the second American Revolution comes, please visit the Aeridani Space State Union.

Now before you say this is based off of gambling and not science, gambling is science!

-Fiah

Off to our start. The rules.

1) You will need either this die roller, or this one.

2)Get Notepad, Open Office, Your Mom, or a notebook open to keep notes and write info down.

3) Read up about space before doing this. I'd suggest an hours research on the topic. If you have, and/or have done week's worth of research like me, then good for you.

Now, let's actually star(t).

Stars

In order for lovely planets to orbit lovely stars, we need lovely stars, now, there are regions. I like to call them Ground Zero, Toasting Region, Mercy Belt, and The Popsicle Land. But more scientifically, they are the "Impossible" region (aka: the star's roche limit), Inside-The Habitable-Zone Region, Habitable Zone, and the Outside-The Habitable-Zone Region. See how much simpler and funner my names are ?

Pictured: The wrong kind of star

Stars are red, stars are blue, I like planets, and so do you!

Usually known as the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (usually memorized by astrophysicists as "Oh, be a fine girl/guy, kiss me").

Now, you should be able to choose your star. Generally Late F stars to early K stars have a chance of life bearing planets. Sol is an early G. We do know that G stars support life because we orbit one ourselves.

Now, it's time to break out the chart list.

Determining the Class.

The class is everything. You need to know it to know what color your star is. Color matters. Blue-Whitish are too hot for life, Whitish to Orangish are just right, and Orange-Redish are too cold, in relative terms.. A red star would still burn you to a crisp if you got close. Don't try it. Ever.

Spectral Type: Pt1

Main-List


Roll 1d100

• 1-5       Non Main-Sequence Star (I plan to add a chart in the future, but meantime, just roll again.)
• 6-70     M-Type Red Dwarf
• 71-79   K-Type Orange Dwarf
• 80-87   G-Type Yellow Dwarf
• 88-94   F-Type White Dwarf
• 95-100 Roll On The List Below

The List Below


Roll 1d10

• 1-4   A-Type Star
• 5-8   B-Type Star
• 9-10 O Type Star

Spectral Type: Pt2

Now, you've determined your letter. Lets determine your number.

Roll 1d10, if you get a 10, count it as a zero. Then add that number to the right-side of your letter. (Ex: I have the letter G, and the number 3, so I add 3 to G, G3.)


Then, assuming main sequence, add a V to the right-side of your number.

Determining the mass, size, and density.

First off, this is going to be assuming you have Universe Sandbox version 2.15! I'll make a tutorial for those who don't later.

Now, the most productive way to go through is to use this tool, and find a mass that fits your star. This is only for main sequence stars, which is all I cover for now.

(Ex: I have a G2V Star, I input a mass of 1.1, and get a G0. I then input a mass of 1.02 and get a G2V, I then write down the stats of the star as a 1.02 mass star.)


Planets

Planet Systems are what makes a star [Mostly] interesting. You [probably should] need one.

Now, we are scientists. So we shall follow bodes law. Now, bodes law isn't 100% accurate, but it's pretty darn close to being 100% accurate.


Now roll 2d6 for number of planets, then follow below:

Determining the orbital distance of planets from their star depends on a fairly intricate mechanism known as Bode's Law. According to Bode's Law, planetary orbits follow a recognizable mathematical pattern of development; this system replicates it. Roll 1d6 to create a “seed” number. (The Sol system’s seed number
is 3.) Beginning with 0 and then the seed, run a series of doublings out for as many planets as your system has. (For the Sol system, that series is 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, and so on.) Now roll the die again, and add that constant to the seed series. (The Sol Bode's constant is 4, which gives 4, 7, 10, 16, 28, 52, and so on.) Now divide the new series by 10, and that’s your planetary
orbit pattern in AU. (Again for the Sol system, we get 0.4, Mercury; 0.7, Venus; 1, Earth; 1.6, Mars; 2.8, the
asteroid belt; 5.2, Jupiter, and so on.) Even the Sol system pattern breaks down with Neptune, so you can
vary the Bode's result if you like.

It's just a personal preference to add the seed number to the tenths decimal place for objects less then 1 AU out. For the objects in 1-10 AU, I roll 1d10 and add that number the the hundredths place. For objects past 10 AU, I roll another 1d10. If I get a 10, I count that as a 0.

lovely planets

Now, I know you don't just want the orbits. That would be a waste of time.

So let's go farther!


Roll 1d11 for each of your planets, Then follow the chart below.

Notes:
Also, Read every type of planet, starting with the Dwarf Planet.
ALWAYS assume masses are in earth mass unless I SPECIFICALLY say it's not.

1 - Asteroid Belt
Roll 1d200 to get thickness in Millions of kilometers.

2 - Dwarf Planet/ Planetoid
1) Roll 1d10. This is called your "Base Mass", or "BM" for short.
2) Roll 1d6, if you get anything less then 4, roll again. This is called your "Mass Divisor", or MD for short. (1 = 10, 2 = 100, 3 = 1000, 4 = 10000, etc)
3) Take your BM and divide it by your MD to get your mass.

3 - Lunar
1) Roll 1d100 for your BM.
2) Roll 1d5 for your MD, if you get 3 or less, roll again.
3) Take your BM and divide it by your MD to get your mass.

04 - Martian-Superlunar
1) Roll 1d10 for your BM
2a) If number is 1 or less, divide it by 10 and roll 1d10 again, putting the number in the hundredths place to get mass.
2b) If the number is more then 2, divide by 100 to get mass.

05 - Sub Terran
1) Roll 1d100 to get mass. If less then 20, roll again. If 100, Roll again.

06 - Terran
1) Roll 2d100. If less then 100, roll again
2) Divide number by 100 to get mass.

07 - Super Terran
1) Roll 1d100. If less then 3, roll again. Then roll 1d10, adding the number to the first decimal place.
2) Divide by 10 to get mass.

08 - Sub Jovian
1) Roll 1d100, If less then 5, roll again. Then roll 1d10 and put that number in the first decimal place to get mass.

9 - Jovian
Roll 4d100 to get mass. If less then 100, roll again.

10 - Super Jovian
1) Roll 1d2. If 2, use 2b. If 1, use 2a.
2a) Roll 10d100 to get mass. If less then 400, roll again to get mass.
2b) Roll 1d10 to get mass in JUPITER MASSES. If 1, roll again.
- Then roll 1d10 and insert that number into the tenths place.. If number is 10, skip the next step.
- Roll 1d10 again and insert the number into the hundredths column. If number is 10, roll again.

11 - Brown Dwarf
Roll 1d100. If less then 13, roll again to get mass in JUPITER masses.

[smjjames]

On the K type stars, since the further down the spectrum you go, the longer lived the star, I would say that the whole K type would have a chance for life bearing planets. I looked at the exoplanet app and found one that is a K9V, the habitable zone is shown to be between Earth and Mercury, so there is a chance.

The roll 1-5 on D100 would be in the realm of brown dwarfs anyway.

For planets, I would suggest maybe a roll on density and then a roll on diameter?

[FiahOwl]

On the K type stars, since the further down the spectrum you go, the longer lived the star, I would say that the whole K type would have a chance for life bearing planets. I looked at the exoplanet app and found one that is a K9V, the habitable zone is shown to be between Earth and Mercury, so there is a chance.

The roll 1-5 on D100 would be in the realm of brown dwarfs anyway.

For planets, I would suggest maybe a roll on density and then a roll on diameter?

I actually plan to integrate this into it somehow.

[smjjames]

On the K type stars, since the further down the spectrum you go, the longer lived the star, I would say that the whole K type would have a chance for life bearing planets. I looked at the exoplanet app and found one that is a K9V, the habitable zone is shown to be between Earth and Mercury, so there is a chance.

The roll 1-5 on D100 would be in the realm of brown dwarfs anyway.

For planets, I would suggest maybe a roll on density and then a roll on diameter?

I actually plan to integrate this into it somehow.

I used that for the Kepler 22 system. What I did was click the random planet button randomly, well, sort of, I clicked it ten times, used the mass, clicked ten times again, then used the density. I've noticed that the large gas giant doesn't go above 500 Earth masses, so if you want anything several times Jupiters mass, something will have to be figured out.

Also, Wikipedia suggests that objects more than 10 jupiters in mass are likely not planets. So, that's a benchpoint to work from.

[vh]

You forgot the hypergiants in your chart

[smjjames]

Hypergiants are EXTREMELY shortlived anyway, they probably don't even live long enough to give planets a chance to form, let alone life. We have a few in Ubox already, Eta Carinae and VY Canis Majoris. Supergiants also have a similarily short life span.

Giants and subgiants are less clear (to me) since according to wikipedia, a large (or at least very luminous) main sequence star could be considered a subgiant, not to mention the fact that giants are also a phase that main sequence stars pass through near the end of their lifespans.

For simplicity, we should stick to the main sequence.

[vh]

yeah, but what is this? a game to generate life or are we rolling dice to make up random numbers and stars.

I just like hypergiants. they makk big asplosion

[smjjames]

Maybe both? Should let Fiah finish the info for the first post.

[FiahOwl]

lol

Maybe both? Should let Fiah finish the info for the first post.

[smjjames]

I just wanted to say that the stellar calculator thing here doesn't work very well, I mean it's kind of clunky and doesn't always want to calculate two different inputs, but it's what we've got.

It would be cool if Dan put in a spectral type indicator. Also, any idea whether he uses bolometric luminosity or visual luminosity? The page here lists both.

[FiahOwl]

I just wanted to say that the stellar calculator thing here doesn't work very well, I mean it's kind of clunky and doesn't always want to calculate two different inputs, but it's what we've got.

It would be cool if Dan put in a spectral type indicator. Also, any idea whether he uses bolometric luminosity or visual luminosity? The pagehere lists both.

Allright, thanks for feedback.

And I think fan uses Visual Lumenosity.

[FiahOwl]

Some crude Planet-generatingness

[Dan Dixon]

This is pretty awesome. Nice work.

[Kevin1994]

stellar evolution.
Super Massive  
hyper mass stars: these are the last sages of the High mass lifespan and can grow up to 10-40 AU.  
red hyper giant  400,000 yrs
blue hyper giant 170,000 yrs
yellow hyper giant 320,000 yrs

High mass stars: these stars have very short lifespan but are the most dangerous types out there.
O class stars 1,000,000< mill yrs

B class stars 1,000,000-5,000,000 mill yrs

A class stars  10,000,000-15,000,000 mill yrs

Med mass stars: a normal star lifespan.
F class stars 1,000,000,000-1,500,000,000 bill yrs

G class stars 10,000,000,000-13,000,000,000 bill yrs
 
Low mass stars: can live for a long time but not as long as the brown Dwarfs.
K class stars 15,000,000,000-25,000,000,000 bill yrs

M class stars 100,000,000,000-1,000,000,000,000

Brown Dwarf : can last to the end of the universe or at it's star era

L class stars 1,000,000,000,000-100,000,000,000,000

T class stars 1,000,000,000,000-160,000,000,000,000

Y class stars 1,000,000,000,000-200,000,000,000,000

Black hole:possibly star at the begging of the universe and can last through the star era and can last up to the degenerate era

X class:13.8 billion years -???      look guys

[smjjames]

Class X? Anything smaller than a brown dwarf and larger than Jupiter is in Superjovian territory. White dwarf stars have their own classification, D for 'degenerate'.

[smjjames]

Hey, in trying to make small rocky planets around the size of mercury or smaller, I noticed that the planet designer utility doesn't do objects in the range of 0.030 Earth masses (a little more massive than Ganymede) to about 0.10-0.14 Earth masses (somewhat larger than Mars). So to compensate for that, I used the die roller to grab numbers for the hundtreths and thousandths places, which works.

[FiahOwl]

Hey, in trying to make small rocky planets around the size of mercury or smaller, I noticed that the planet designer utility doesn't do objects in the range of 0.030 Earth masses (a little more massive than Ganymede) to about 0.10-0.14 Earth masses (somewhat larger than Mars). So to compensate for that, I used the die roller to grab numbers for the hundtreths and thousandths places, which works.

Mmm...Interesting.

[FiahOwl]

Rough mass generation. If you could help me make it better, I would appreciate it.

[smjjames]

*starts messing around with the rough mass generation*

Edit: Heres the first one just to be sure I've got the formula right, there will be plenty more, although I won't post each one as I make them. Although I will post ones of note....

9 Sub Jovian
d100 85
d10 2
0.285 jupiter = 90.6 Earth

Edit: Caught myself not quite doing it right as far as assuming earth mass unless stated otherwise, for the gas giants anyway. Also rolling alot of gas giants....

Edit: The one for Super Jovian may have to be reworked because much of the time, the number roll comes out below 500. I checked in US and 900 earths=2.83 jupiters while 4000 earths= 12.6 jupiters. Will give a data dump when I reach a total of 20 objects.

Edit: The Super Lunar section needs to be tweaked slightly because, after realizing the mistake I was making with the mass divisor and the confusion before that, I reworked out  the lunar ones and one of them came out to be of sublunar mass.
4 Super Lunar
BM 2
MD 1d3 3
0.002 earth= 0.16 moon

Also, there is so much overlap with Lunar, Super Lunar, and Mars Sized categories that they might be one. In fact, the largest Super Lunar type is a bit less massive than Mars.

[smjjames]

Heres a testing of 20 object type rollthroughs (plus one asteroid belt which I made a planetary ring instead). I know the whole thing isn't stable and I simply left it on real time.

Going to do more as this is fun.

Edit: Hrm, the Lunar category seems more like Sub Lunar to me, from what I've gotten so far....

Edit: IMO the lower limit for subterran is too high. With the way the mars sized is set up, the maximum is 8.13 moons while the changeover point in US is at  0.12 earths. The lunar size one should be changed to Sub Lunar and Super Lunar and Mars sized should be merged and relabelled Lunar to Mars sized since those two overlap so much.

Edit: Err, either I'm tired and doing it wrong, or there is something up with the calculation for superlunar because I got this:
4 super lunar
BM 3
MD 3
0.003 earth= 0.24 moon

Done for tonight, was going to go for 50, but was getting tired so I stopped at 40. Anyways, I've put up an updated save and text file.

While most everything is good, there is a massive overlap with lunar, superlunar, and mars sized. I've had lunar go into mars sized and mars sized go into lunar.

The lower limit for subterran just needs to be moved further down, to maybe 10 or 11, otherwise that one is working fine.

Super Jovian needs to be reworked if you want masses from 3 to 10 jupiters to be available.

For the two asteroid belts I rolled, I got a 1 out of the d10 roll both times somehow. Since a width of 1 M km is really narrow for an asteroid belt, ours is like 1 AU wide or something, I put them around two of the planets. A d100 roll might work better for that one.

[FiahOwl]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Fix'd and tweaked a few things.

[smjjames]

I'm trying this out for another binary (an actual red dwarf binary, although one is more of an orange white than red). Also, for option 2b on SuperJovian, while I know you mean in Jovian masses, others might not know you mean that. Just saying. I also got the 2b option for the closest in orbit, of which I used bodes law for.... might just mix and match orbits instead, dunno. If I put it in the innermost orbit, it's going to make the next two or three, maybe four, bodes law orbits unstable.

[FiahOwl]

I'm trying this out for another binary (an actual red dwarf binary, although one is more of an orange white than red). Also, for option 2b on SuperJovian, while I know you mean in Jovian masses, others might not know you mean that. Just saying. I also got the 2b option for the closest in orbit, of which I used bodes law for.... might just mix and match orbits instead, dunno. If I put it in the innermost orbit, it's going to make the next two or three, maybe four, bodes law orbits unstable.

Ah, thanks!

[blotz]

is there a
tl;dr version?

[karakris]

To Fiahowl

This looks to be a Very Good System - I assume you are pretty sure it will always work.
A Monumental Creation.

Is it possible that you could Help Me - using this.
As you may know - I "invent" all of the Star Systems which we "Discover" and "Survey", in my Sci Fi Game.

From what you are saying - I may often be WRONG - in "inventing" effectively IMPOSSIBLE Star Systems.

Request - Either, can you look at the Star Systems which I have "invented" ??
OR - can you help me do the new "Discovery Reports" from now on ??

We do also have to conside that the Aliens were monkeying-about with lots of star Systems, from around 13 Billion Years Ago, up to around 500,000 Years ago.
Quite apart from "seeding" Thousands or even Millions of Star Systems with Life.

I can let you have ALL of the Information I have on all of the Star Systems we have Discovered, including those which have been Colonised.

[FiahOwl]

To Fiahowl

This looks to be a Very Good System - I assume you are pretty sure it will always work.
A Monumental Creation.

Is it possible that you could Help Me - using this.
As you may know - I "invent" all of the Star Systems which we "Discover" and "Survey", in my Sci Fi Game.

From what you are saying - I may often be WRONG - in "inventing" effectively IMPOSSIBLE Star Systems.

Request - Either, can you look at the Star Systems which I have "invented" ??
OR - can you help me do the new "Discovery Reports" from now on ??

We do also have to conside that the Aliens were monkeying-about with lots of star Systems, from around 13 Billion Years Ago, up to around 500,000 Years ago.
Quite apart from "seeding" Thousands or even Millions of Star Systems with Life.

I can let you have ALL of the Information I have on all of the Star Systems we have Discovered, including those which have been Colonised.

Sure, I could review your star systems if you would like.

And I'm not quite finished with this yet, I'll finish it soon but it should work for now.

[karakris]

Thanks - FiahOwl

[vh]

protip: the title seems to indicate that the purpose of this thread is to harness the brainpower of monkeys in order to generate random systems of stars and planets that do not resemble our anthropologic cousins

protip: its not exactly perfect

for example here is a better example of a way to choose a spectral class, using an RNG rather than a dice because it is easier.

generate a random number between 0 and 3 million including
if the number is 0, then you have an O-class star
else if the number is below 4000, then you have a B-class star
else if the number is below 22000, then you have an A-class star
else if the number is below 112000, then you have an F-class star
else if the number is below 340000, then you have an G-class star
else if the number is below 700000, then you have a K-class star
else you have a M-class star


the luminosity of the star is even more complicated, you might want to read about the luminosity function on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminosity_function_(astronomy)

[Hellpotatoe]

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

This is so useful that must be 'fixed' or something

[FiahOwl]

ok ok i will this weekend now shoo