tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593390371951368920.post6057813971427819896..comments2023-12-08T21:46:19.347-05:00Comments on Colony Worlds: Conquering The Frozen Frontier (Kuiper Belt Objects)Darnell Claytonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10892014932718500845noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593390371951368920.post-41878032956986361832008-05-04T20:26:00.000-04:002008-05-04T20:26:00.000-04:00@ Qraal: That's very interesting! (regarding the p...<B>@ Qraal:</B> That's very interesting! (regarding the potential for fusion power).<BR/><BR/>While I am not too sure many people would want to live out there (as there is probably not much to see "out in the black") it may become an attractive realm for scientists and governments (for energy that is).<BR/><BR/>As far as extra planets go, I think this could potentially open up the whole "what is a planet" debate, especially if someone finds an Earth sized planet (or larger) out there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593390371951368920.post-33079054213810286242008-05-03T23:45:00.000-04:002008-05-03T23:45:00.000-04:00Cool post, Darnell.But seriously the comet clouds ...Cool post, Darnell.<BR/><BR/>But seriously the comet clouds and Belts have a lot of potential as real estate for fusion powered communities. Some estimates put as many as 100 billion cometoids out in the Deep Cold. In theory such communities could become utterly self-sustaining by harvesting starlight and capturing interstellar dust. According to one estimate, based on extinction of starlight, there's about 3 Jupiter masses of dust per cubic parsec (a sphere centered on the Sun about 2 lightyears in radius), and as the Sun travels through the Galaxy it would be continually replenished.<BR/><BR/>Beyond about 676 AU from the Sun (visible magnitude -26.65) the Sunlight is as strong as the Full Moon's light (mag -12.5) - we should call it "The Moonlight Zone". Eventually the Sun is just another star - after 0.5 lightyear it's as bright as Venus is from Earth. About 44,000 AU is the aphelion of the long-period comets, when they're first observed. That's the main reason astronomers believe in the Oort Cloud. Jan Oort estimated about 100 billion exist out there - the utter extremities of the Sun's gravitational kingdom. Between here and there might be dozens of planets - and we'd never know until we venture into that great Vastness.qraalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13436948899560519608noreply@blogger.com