Update 19
High Orbit of Toriga I, 2091
Heart of Gold moves to orbit Toriga I, to scope it out in more detail and for a possible landing. Over the following weeks, they map out the planet's surface:
The projection is pretty bad; everything near the poles is stretched horizontally, but not vertically.
Lower elevations are darker colors. The highlands are less flat than is implied by the shading - the contour lines are significant.
The white area represents the current antisolar side of the planet; the arrow in F16 points in the direction that area is "moving" in. The color scheme is not accurate; in reality, the oceans are a reddish-orange color that deepens to a bright crimson in the more heavily algaeated areas. The land is made up of various types rock, and has generally been shaped by either glacial or hydraulic sculpting, or by tectonic crushing in the highlands areas - there is no evidence of the algae having made significant changes to the landscape, and no recent volcanic activity.
The planet's dark side is frozen and generally inactive, with little weather activity noted and most of the oceans frozen over. The land area is composed of either bare rock or icy rock, the ice being deposited in the dense storms which sweep in regularly from the terminator and remaining until the affected area has been thawed out. Brown fields of dead algae are a common sight under the ice, as it does not seem to thrive in the freezing tempratures.
The light side of the planet is a fairly hot, dry wasteland most of the time, similar to a somewhat hotter and less blasted American Southwest in climate and form (the dark side is as well, but is much more icy.) However, cyclones or similar storms are generated over the hot oceans in the subsolar areas frequently - one was in progress as the ship arrived in orbit, depositing water all over the low-lying costal areas which then runs down to the ocean or into various large bowl lakes. These lakes are full of algae, and the ground in the lowlands is generally covered with dying algae dropped by the last storm. The rocky highlands making up the interior of the continents experiences far fewer of these storms - although some still clearly make it, and there are sometimes smaller desert storms, these areas tend to be very dry and jagged.
The permafrost line is generally a few hundred kilometers antisolar of the terminator, except at the poles where it spreads over into the light side. Hot air from the subsolar areas is constantly flowing into the dark side around the tropics, bringing with it the warm, humid air which leaves the constant coating of ice in the tropical areas of the dark side. A cold, dry wind flows back over the poles into the light side, keeping tempratures there low. The low-level, fast winds here have converted the polar regions into blasted wastelands, with huge columns of stone and ice standing out above the surface. These areas are probably the least hospitible places on the planet, without liquid water but with almost constant sandstorms. The water which has somehow ended up here over time tends to make up the vividly red ice flats covering the rocky ground of these areas, only contributing to their striking and vaguely horrifying appearence. However, the sub-polar zones are relatively stable atmospherically, and have a relatively cool but still positive temprature.
The rocks on the surface seem to be overwhelmingly metamorphic and sedimentary, with no sign of igneous rocks except for in one volcanic chain (from I5 to H9.) Silicon, iron, and calcium compounds are all found in varying degrees, with silicate-based rock generally being dominant on the surface. There is no soil to be found, though plenty of sand. At this point, it appears that the radiation is overwhelmingly solar in origin, and varies seemingly randomly and arbitrarily but should not normally pose a significant health risk or much of a problem for any equipment.
There seem to be no real rivers, with irregular rivers at the trailing edge of the permafrost carving out paths for themselves but which not always being taken by the next cycle's thaw. That thaw happens roughly every 45 Earth years, the length of Toriga I's day. Toriga I's year, however, is a mere 22 Earth days. Since this doesn't effect anything due to the world's practically nonexistant inclination, it has been decided to keep using Earth day-week-month-year terminology for clarity - even though all are completely unrelated to reality.
The planet's gravity is marked at 1.04g, and its atmospheric pressure at 1.15 atm. The atmosphere consists of about 74% N2, 24% O2, .5% Ar, and .5% CO2. Its radius is just under 6200 Km.
If you want to land on this planet, say where. More specific information is available on request, for some things.
Author
Topic: Outpost 5 - Suggestion Game - Update 26 - June 2091 (Read 36070 times)