So there is a small problem with the theory that this planetary system is positioned within a habitable zone of the Alpha Centauri system.
To be brief in my findings, the distance that Jake and his compatriots travel to Pandora is significantly out of range of the habitable zones of Alpha Centauri A or B, as well as those closest star to us Proxima Centauri. According to an NPR article the ship travels at approximately 70% the speed of light, or 209,854,721 m/s. This gives us a distance of 4.203 light-years, which falls 0.0398 light-years short of Proxima Centauri and 0.1668 light-years short of the Alpha Centauri binary system.
Please see the math below for an explanation.
209,854,721 m/s = 70% of c
189,341,556s in 6 years
39,734,219,408,085,876m traveled
4.203 light-years = total distance (from Earth) traveled
4.365 light-years = distance from Sun to Alpha Centauri AB
(6.264616888e-26 to 1.991253225e-25 = range of distance between ACA and ACB over a 40 year cycle)
0.00015813070221621 light-years = distance from Sun to Earth
4.3698 light-years = distance from Earth to AB
0.1668 light-years = distance from ship to AB
Moreover, the gravitational and angular momentum effects of this system preclude the formation of gas giants like Polyphemus.
4.243 light-years = distance from Sun to Proxima Centauri
0.00015813070221621 light-years = distance from Sun to Earth
4.2428 light-years = distance from Earth to Proxima Centauri
.0398 light-years = distance from ship to Proxima Centauri
Moreover, Proxima Centauri is a flare star which means torrents of charged particles would strip off any atmosphere without a magnetic field. Pandora may indeed have this magnetic field as long as part of the inner structure remained molten, this is not possible for its gas giant parent planet.
6.991759919e-27 light-years = distance from ACA necessary to support life
3.915385555e-27 light-years = distance from ACB necessary to support life
1.286e-28 to 3.02e-28 light-years = distance from Proxima Centauri necessary to support life
72.84.244.253 04:13, January 8, 2010 (UTC)Aaron
The only issue that you have here is that you are assuming that because it has a parent star that is a gas giant that the planet cannot have a molten core to create the magnetics. The first thing that poses an issue with this is that you have no proof on this matter, only a hypothesis because we have no way to prove this. Second, you are trying to calculate the determining factor of scientific validity on a movie that has, point in fact, entertainment. When you do this (now granted it is nice to consider these things as fact) you take away from what the movie is designed to do in the first place which is ENTERTAIN us.
If you want to work on the science of the movie, then take into consideration that this movie is taking place in a future that first has bi-pedal mechanoids that are used for battle purposes. So for this to happen on a large scale I will have to prospective say that we are looking at sometime in the next 200 to 400 years at the very least. Now this is purely an estimate on how far in the future to consider the speed that would come in effect, the type of technology to be able to genetically create a cross breed of the inhabitants of the planet and human DNA. Plus factoring the capacity of traveling the speed that they are going with their ships and when they would be going would you consider that the distance to the closest star (and consider that we see the stars where they were not where they are) has changed since the launch (which also is factored in with the mathematics of launch and travel to ensure that we actually get to the location). Now beyond this, also take into consideration that the earth has no trees on the surface by the remark that the main character has made.
When you take all these into consideration then make the comment based purely on the mathematics that you are presenting, you start to sound like someone that is after disproving that it could be possible, or trying to make it where the potential of this being real is not possible.
So to make sure that I have make my point, do make sure that you do a full count of your calculations before you try to post something like this and do take into consideration as well that there are people out there that will take what you say and do what you tried to do back on you.
Now that I have vented, make sure that you look at all factors, not just the math.
- I just wander: are you sure that 6 years is time associated with Earth reference system? If it's not (if this is time inside the spacecraft), then you don't took in account the relativistic effects for object which is moving with 70% of light speed. I'm not scientist and I don't too familiar with math of the Theory of relativity, but the time inside spacecraft should move slowly than time in stationary reference system. This means that in this case they should traveling more than 6 years (from Earth point of view), so they traveled for a bigger distance.
- Actually there is not enough information to make any "strict" calculations. And of course this is entertainment movie, so there is no sense look for the 100% of scientific truth inside.
- Darth Ross (February 4, 2010)
Radiation sickness on Pandora.[]
The article mentions that the humans get radiation-poisoning on Pandora from the radiation-belts of Polythemus. Pandora must have a strong magnetic field for suspending the the mountains and Pandora has an atmosphere which is both dense and thick. The humans of the surface of Pandora should be safe. Even if the surface would be directly exposed to the radiation-belts, which it is clearly not, the simplest solution would be to go underground.
the comment about needing to take iodine supplements shows complete ignorance of issues related to radiation exposures
Iodine supplements are only useful for protecting the human thyroid gland from radioactive isotopes of iodine. These isotopes have a short half-life and only can come from recent fission based nuclear reactions (reactor leaks or A-bomb fallout). Since the human thyroid likes to collec tand store iodine, taking non-radioactive iodine will cause the thyroid gland to "fill up" with safe isotopes allowing later exposures of the dangerous isotopes to be eliminated in the urine.
Radiation arround gas giant planets are the result of high energy solar wind particles (typically Hydrogen or Helium ions) that are accelerated to very high energies by the strong magnetic fields created by the gas giant. Iodine will do nothing to protect from this.
— Ŭalabio‽ 07:00, April 29, 2010 (UTC)