# Conplanet/Space/Solar System

< Conplanet‎ | Space

Our solar system has, err.... 11, no..... 9..... ah! 8 planets, a Sun and plenty of asteroids and moons.

## Distance approximation formulasEdit

You have 2 to choose from. Take your pick.

### Titius-Bode lawEdit

Refers the distance of the planets from the sun.

${\displaystyle R_{i}=0.4+0.3\times 2^{i-2}}$

with the exception of ${\displaystyle i=1}$ , where ${\displaystyle R_{1}=0.4}$

The distance of the i-th planet is given by this formula.

Relative to our solar system:

Planet ${\displaystyle 2^{i-2}}$  T-B rule distance Real distance
Mercury 0 0.4 0.39
Venus 1 0.7 0.72
w:Earth 2 1.0 1.00
Mars 4 1.6 1.52
w:Ceres (Dwarf Planet) + w:Asteroid field 8 2.8 2.77
Jupiter 16 5.2 5.20
Saturn 32 10.0 9.54
Uranus 64 19.6 19.2
Neptune. Pluto (Dwarf Planet) exists at this point, though. 128 38.8 30.06
Pluto (Dwarf Planet) 256 77.2 39.44

The law works on the fact that planets settle in relative ratios to each other, however, the problem with Neptune has discredited this formula.

### Dermott's LawEdit

The little-known Dermott's Law. I can only quote Wikipedia, one of the few web references on the subject (all other references are essensially repetitions of the same text):

#### Wikipedia Entry on Dermott's Law, accessed on 24th Feb 2007Edit

Dermott's Law is an empirical formula for the sidereal period of major satellites orbiting planets in the solar system. It was identified by the celestial mechanics researcher Stanley Dermott in the 1960s and takes the form:

T(n) = T(0).Cn

where T(n) is the sidereal period of the nth satellite, T(0) is of the order 0.46 and C is a constant of the planetary system. Specific values are:

• Jovian system:     T(0) = 0.444; C = 2.03
• Saturnian system: T(0) = 0.462; C = 1.59
• Uranian system:    T(0) = 0.488; C = 2.24

Such power-laws may be a consequence of collapsing-cloud models of planetary and satellite systems possessing various symmetries; see Titius-Bode Law. They may also reflect the effect of w:resonance-driven commensurabilities in the various systems.

## Orbital periodEdit

One option.

### Kepler's third lawEdit

T2 ∝ R3

Basically: Period is proportional to distance from sun to the power of 1.5, or:

${\displaystyle Period\propto {\sqrt {Distance^{3}}}}$

## Tweaking to make more physics-compatibleEdit

Okay, so you have your basic numbers now. Tweakin' time!

#### Preventing Orbital DisturbanceEdit

First off, we'll need to prevent one planet's orbit from disturbing another planet's orbit (so it'll remain stable for more than a few years after its birth).

This means that ...

Section is U/C.