Planet

Planets are large objects composed of rock or gas that orbit around a star. Planets come in all shapes and sizes, from small dwarf planets to gas giants. Planets, like with many other objects, can be pr ocedurally generated in SpaceEngine.

Overview[]

Planets can be very different in sizes, and some types are rarer than others. Planets can generate almost anywhere. They can be right up to their star, in the farest reaches of the star system, in the star's habitable zone, even in interglactic space. Some planets may have lava lakes and oceans if spawning really close to its parent star, or in a binary planet system. Others may have liquids on its surface in the form of water, methane, ethane, and other various liquids, even nitrogen. Most planets with liquid will either be frozen, in the form of ponds, or in the form of global oceans, while planets with a balance of this are rarer. Planets can on rare occasions have life on them, and the life can be in many forms. Planets also can have the majority of textures on them. These objects can have various land formations on them, like volcanos for example.

List of planet classes[]

In version 0.9.9.0, planetary class names follow a four part scheme. The naming scheme is as follows:

[temperature class] [volatiles class] [mass prefix] [bulk composition class]

This naming scheme applies to planets, moons, dwarf planets, and even dwarf moons and asteroids.

Temperature[]

Temperature classes are as follows:

Frigid: 0-90 K (Frozen in 0.9.8.0 and below)
Cold: 90-170 K
Cool: 170-250 K
Temperate: 250-330 K
Warm: 330-500 K
Hot: 500-1000 K
Torrid: +1000 K (Scorched in 0.9.8.0 and below)

Volatiles[]

Volatiles describes an object's atmosphere and hydrosphere. This class does not apply to ice giants or gas giants.

Airless: A planet with an atmospheric pressure less than 1 nanobar.
Arid: A planet with atmospheric pressure greater than 1 nanobar, but with no liquids on its surface.
Lacustrine: A planet with a small amount of liquid on its surface (lakes), and, obviously, with an atmosphere (because liquid cannot exist in a vacuum).
Marine: A planet with seas of a liquid substance, i.e. a significant amount of it, but not completely covering the surface.
Oceanic: A planet with a global ocean, completely covering the surface.
Superoceanic: A planet with a very deep ocean (hundreds of kilometers deep), with exotic forms of ice forming on its bottom (ice VI and ice VII).

Mass[]

The mass prefix varies between solid and gas planets.

Solid Planets (ferria, carbonia, terra, aquaria)[]

Micro: < 0.002 M⊕
Mini: 0.002-0.02 M⊕
Sub: 0.02-0.2 M⊕
(No Prefix): 0.2-2 M⊕
Super: 2-10 M⊕
Mega: > 10 M⊕

Ice Giants (neptunes)[]

Mini: < 4 M⊕
Sub: 4-10 M⊕
(No Prefix): 10-25 M⊕
Super: 25-62.5 M⊕
Mega: > 62.5 M⊕

Gas Giants (jupiters)[]

Sub: < 0.2 M♃
(No Prefix): 0.2-2 M♃
Super: 2-10 M♃
Mega: > 10 M♃

Bulk composition[]

Ferria: Metals (iron, nickel) and siderophilic elements such as sulfur.
Carbonia: Carbon and its compounds like carbides, also CO and methane.
Terra: Rocky planet whose primary component is silicates (rocks).
Aquaria: Water in the form of exotic ices and liquid.
Jupiter: Hydrogen and Helium.
Neptune: Not any of the previous classes. Typically, H/He is less than 25%; other substances are water/ammonia/methane and a rocky core. An aquaria with a supercritical vapor atmosphere is classified as a minineptune/subneptune.
Chthonia: Core of an evaporated ice/gas giant, or a helium-rich giant.

Old Planet classes[]

Here's a list of planetary classes for version 0.9.8.0 and lower:

Selena: Rocky planets without an atmosphere. Mercury and the Moon are examples.
IceWorld: A planet whose surface is covered primarily by solidified volatiles.
Titan: Planets similar to the moon Titan mainly composed of rocky material, water ice and organic compounds.
Desert: A planet with atmospheric pressure greater than 1 nanobar, but with no liquids on its surface.
Terra: Rocky planet whose primary component is silicates (rocks).
Oceania: A planet with a global ocean, completely covering the surface.
IceGiant: Gaseous planets composed of heavier elements like carbon, sulfur, oxygen and nitrogen. Uranus and Neptune are examples.
GasGiant: Surfaceless planets composed of gases such as Hydrogen and Helium. Jupiter and Saturn are examples.