Author Topic: Question about Alpha Centauri daylight/night time hours  (Read 1583 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline JarlWolf

Question about Alpha Centauri daylight/night time hours
« on: July 20, 2013, 08:28:07 AM »
How long are days on Alpha Centauri, and how long is there daylight? Or is there even any night time at all? Because there is 2-3 stars I believe. But me lacking knowledge of their orbits and other things I am not exactly sure of how long days/nights really are, and better yet seasons, or if there even is seasonal changes. I know there is the Hercules Perihelion of course where sunlight increases dramatically but that's more of a climatic thing that lasts for 20 years.

« Last Edit: July 22, 2013, 09:07:00 AM by sisko »


"The chains of slavery are not eternal."

Offline Petek

Re: Question about Alpha Centauri daylight/night time hours
« Reply #1 on: July 20, 2013, 02:40:56 PM »
According to Appendix 5 of the SMAC manual, each day on Planet lasts 17.53 hours. However, the number of hours of daylight isn't specified. That same appendix also states

Quote
With only a slight axial tilt, any seasonal differences are minimal.

Offline Geo

Re: Question about Alpha Centauri daylight/night time hours
« Reply #2 on: July 20, 2013, 07:18:37 PM »
What Petek said. Daylight (from Alpha Centauri A) would be just under 9 hours.
Alpha Centauri B (Hercules) is alot more fickle. During half the year, Hercules would be visible in Planet's "night" sky, so you could think of this time as the "white nights" northern Canada, southern Scandinavia, and northern Russia experiences in the region 500 km below Earth's arctic circle.

Offline JarlWolf

Re: Question about Alpha Centauri daylight/night time hours
« Reply #3 on: July 20, 2013, 10:54:42 PM »
So it's basically there is a rough 9 hour daytime combined with whatever hours of daylight added by a crazy and fickle star.

Hmm.... this can mean two things: Either it can be very bright for long time, or pitch black after the initial daylight hours. Which means temperatures will also probably fluctuate dramatically...

Edit: Thank you. I'll be able to apply this to my AAR.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2013, 11:49:25 PM by JarlWolf »


"The chains of slavery are not eternal."

Offline Geo

Re: Question about Alpha Centauri daylight/night time hours
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2013, 01:45:08 AM »
Temperature fluctations would be less then Earth experiences. For starters, the shorter night means less time for heat to escape into space. But more importantly, the denser atmosphere has a better capacity to retain heat.

Offline Lord Avalon

Re: Question about Alpha Centauri daylight/night time hours
« Reply #5 on: July 21, 2013, 02:16:10 AM »
Also from Appendix 5, pp. 214-5:



               Sun   Alpha Centauri A  AC B
Mass           1.00       1.08         0.91
Luminosity     1.00       1.45         0.45
Spectral Class  G2         G2           K5
Surface Temp   1.00       1.00         0.73
Diameter       1.00       1.09         0.70

A is yellow, B is orange.

Your agonizer, please.

 

* User

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length

Select language:

* Community poll

SMAC v.4 SMAX v.2 (or previous versions)
-=-
24 (7%)
XP Compatibility patch
-=-
9 (2%)
Gog version for Windows
-=-
103 (32%)
Scient (unofficial) patch
-=-
40 (12%)
Kyrub's latest patch
-=-
14 (4%)
Yitzi's latest patch
-=-
89 (28%)
AC for Mac
-=-
3 (0%)
AC for Linux
-=-
6 (1%)
Gog version for Mac
-=-
10 (3%)
No patch
-=-
16 (5%)
Total Members Voted: 314
AC2 Wiki Logo
-click pic for wik-

* Random quote

Air power rests at the apex of the first triad of victory, for it combines Mobility, Flexibility, and Initiative.
~Spartan Battle Manual

* Select your theme

*
Templates: 5: index (default), PortaMx/Mainindex (default), PortaMx/Frames (default), Display (default), GenericControls (default).
Sub templates: 8: init, html_above, body_above, portamx_above, main, portamx_below, body_below, html_below.
Language files: 4: index+Modifications.english (default), TopicRating/.english (default), PortaMx/PortaMx.english (default), OharaYTEmbed.english (default).
Style sheets: 0: .
Files included: 45 - 1228KB. (show)
Queries used: 38.

[Show Queries]