world map ~ Janus
here's a WIP of a map I've been playing with for a sci-fi novel.
A naturally occuring ringworld. On Janus the day is the same length as the year so one face always faces the star, the other into space so the only habitable region is a narrow 250kmwide belt around the girth of the planet.world copy.jpg
Janus was populated by the ragtag remnants of humanity after an interstellar war
Compared to some of the maps I've seen here it needs a lot of work
Last edited by Southern_land; 01-10-2012 at 12:11 AM.
In my humble opinion, it seems to be missing oceans. Without large oceans, even a Ringworld would be largely desert.
Otherwise, it is a nice looking map. Look forward to more.
rmfr
Perhaps imagination is only intelligence having fun. - Albert Einstein
A good friend will come down and bail you out of jail. A best friend will be in jail with you and say, "Dude, we screwed up."
Yeah, I had oceans in an earlier version but i figured they'd be evapourating at a huge rate on the sunward side and freezing at a similar rate on the spaceward side, which would lead to massive erosion and the oceans choking with sediment,. All of the rivers flow sunwards, carrying melt from the ice cap towards the desert, I'm seeing them as wide Nile/Mississippi size rivers. Effectively these are what remains of the oceans. Also with a monoface I don't think the planet would have a moon, the gulf stream would be simple gravity current rather than convection.
On the sunward side I see great dust clouds rising with the dust blowing back anti-sunwards rejuvinating the soil (if that makes sense)
I'm reasoning that the climate is actually fairly stable; a series of cells drawing cool moist air off the ice cap and rising as it heats sunward. I'm thinkinjg (and I could well be wrong here) that with a 400 odd day day/year the Coriolis effect will be minor so storms as such shouldn't eventuate except where the ice or deserts projects into the ring adding destabilising influences?
Please point out where you think I'm wrong, thats what I'm here for
OK. I think I am confused. I was assuming, due to the shape of your map, that you were making a Ringworld map. The images attached should show what I mean.
However, I now think you are mapping the "terminator" of a planet with one side always facing the planet. Yes? If so, then I was mistaken.
If it is a terminator map, then yes, you are correct. The side facing the sun would be a scorched desert. The side away would be a glaciated desert. And as one approached the terminator, climate from either side would moderate.
Ambitious. I have thought about tidally locked planets, but I always felt the area of the terminator would be a deadly stormfront between the ice and fire of the night and day sides.
Sorry if I caused any confusion.
rmfr
Perhaps imagination is only intelligence having fun. - Albert Einstein
A good friend will come down and bail you out of jail. A best friend will be in jail with you and say, "Dude, we screwed up."
Very original mapping project you have here! I love it! ^^
Edit: Wait. Is this a ringworld or a planet with rediculously slow rotation? I suspect the former, but your latter description of the world seems to suggest the latter.
Last edited by Rhotherian; 01-14-2012 at 02:24 PM.
Actually the later, misnamed it as a ringworld. When i originally conceived it I'd just read Niven/pournelle's ring world and wanted a similar a effect on a real planetOriginally Posted by Rhotherian
terminator world... nice catch and like the term... thanks Arakish.
Beautiful terrains and a really cool concept!
I don't understand the shading in the map, I'm afraid. I'm not sure what it's meant to indicate so maybe you should review what you're doing there. If it's indicating some sort of elevation change then I think I need something more than just the plain shading.
Work on it some more! It's such a great idea, I want to see it fleshed out.
This has a name, it's called Tide Lock, and it's actually quite common. Given enough time, orbiting bodies will enter tide lock, or spin-orbit resonance with their primary, or with one of their satellites. All the moons in the solar system are in tide lock with their planets, and Mercury is in 3:2 resonance with the Sun. Earth is slowing down, very slowly, toward tide lock with the Moon.
A world like this is going to be something like a permanent global Hurricane. The atmosphere will be cycling toward the sun at ground level, and away from it higher up, constantly, all the way around, and with great force. All the water is probably going to be locked up in ice well away from the habitable temperatures. The region of habitable temperature is therefore going to be a desert pounded by stupendous winds. Also without an ocean, there won't be enough photosynthetic life to produce oxygen.
I like the concept. I think the rivers and roads could do without that white outer stroke. to me it makes them really clash with everything else. keep up the good work. i want to see your final version.
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