Two interesting links from Dynamics of Cats

[james_davis_nicoll]

As pointed out in email, more or less:

The basic idea is to look at solar models in which the young Sun was a little bit more massive, and got to its current mass through an enhanced stellar wind over the first few hundred million years.

and from DoC:

The Scientific Exoplanets Renderer (SER) is a new scientific software tool to generate photorealistic visualizations of exoplanets. It uses physical properties from exoplanets and their parent stars to generate possible scenarios for their visual appearance as seem from space. Many parameters can be adjusted based on estimates of their atmospheric and surface physics and chemistry. It includes the reconstruction of realistic atmospheric clouds motion and weather effects.

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I am disappointed with the lack of cats in the actual content.

[gohover.livejournal.com]

On a somewhat related note, there is a talk being given today about an observation which could be explained by an Earth-mass exomoon around a free floating jupiter+ mass planet:


See: http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/wfir2012/abstracts/Bennett_2.pdf

[neowolf2.livejournal.com]

For the faint early sun problem, I like the idea of more nitrogen in the early atmosphere.

http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v2/n12/full/ngeo692.html

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

...a new scientific software tool to generate photorealistic visualizations of exoplanets.

This diabolical engine will put Ron Miller, Pamela Lee, Don Dixon, Don Davis, Kim Poor, Pat Rawlings, Michael Carroll, and Rick Sternbach out of work! (William K. Hartmann can always go back to teaching planetary science.)

And Chesley Bonestell is spinning in his grave.

[neowolf2.livejournal.com]

And Chesley Bonestell is spinning in his grave.

Time to call Kim Ross!

http://dresdencodak.com/2010/06/03/dark-science-01/