My first experiment was with a fairly small second sun in a regular orbit.
Space engine vs universe sandbox 2 full#
Haven’t done the math but probably something on the order of as bright as a full moon although no larger than Jupiter. Additionally you have another bright object in the sky. Every fifteen years you have extra hot summers and mild winters, vice versa on an offset of 7.5 years. Imagine what impact that could have on a world in a science fiction or fantasy setting. Doesn’t seem like much but can you imagine what the seasons would be like if on top of the one year seasonal cycle, there was a 15 year secondary variation with the energy from the sun varying by about 6% (0.97^2)? That is a tremendous change for something that seems a rather minor effect.
Space engine vs universe sandbox 2 simulator#
It’s a little hard to see in the picture below but in the simulator you can see Earth drifting closer and farther from the sun by maybe 3%. What happens to Earth? Not a lot but it perceptible makes the orbit elliptical with a precessing axis. It certainly perturbs the out system bottoms, although not as much as you might think. It’s trivial in the simulator: load it up the solar system, click on Nepture, change its mass and there you do. As a first step, I wondered what it would be like it Neptune was turned into a dwarf sun of about 10 Jupiter masses. With the simulator, you can create a system and see how it works. Well, fire up your Universe Sandbox and have it. Sure recent studies suggest this system can have planets but what does that really mean? Especially for something like Tatooine where at first glance, that planet orbits two similar sized suns at similar distances (although I suppose they could dissimilar sized and a distance where they appear the same)? From Tatooine and its two suns to Helliconia, these are fun settings but I’ve always wondered just how plausible these systems are. Multi-sun systems have always intrigued me. And when it comes to creating a world, that can be all the difference between a setting that limps along and one that really runs. No more is it an abstract idea, now it is a concept you can really feel.
Well, open up the Universe Sandbox, start tossing moons around or change the orbit of Jupiter and you will soon see just how easy it is for one passing object to cause another to go careening out of a solar system. If you are like me, that kind of makes sense but in the end, it’s a little hard to wrap your head around it. For instance, several sceintific papers suggests it was likley one or more earth size planets were shot out of the infant solar system. In addition to the sheer pleasure of smashing planets, you get a great feel for the forces that shape our universe. You can have hours of fun just making your own simulations or playing with the ones that come with it. Selling for as little as $2.50 when Steam has it on sale, it could be the best game for less than the cost of a fast food meal you can buy.
It’s a multi-body simulator that lets you play with solar systems and galaxies, shoot a black hole by Earth, explode Jupiter, and much more. Even if you don’t create worlds for fiction or game worlds, The Universe Sandbox is a complete blast but if you do it’s an indispensable tool.
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