creating planets, star systems

[sozme]

Any advice on this? Any resources you could recommend? Ideally I would like to outline my entire galaxy before I start writing.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Any advice on this? Any resources you could recommend? Ideally I would like to outline my entire galaxy before I start writing.

Good plan (but don't go too mad in the detail, you want to write it sometime )
I made mine up with no understanding of physics and needed a fair bit of rewriting.

This is the thread about it -ctg had a great chart in it and there was good discussion in it

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/536781-describing-my-star-system-about-200-words.html

 

[Abernovo]

Go to the NASA and Kepler websites. Especially apt timing. For general info, Wikipedia is a good resource. You don't need to take it as gospel, but go to the references, which for the astronomy/astrophysics/planet science pages tends to come from decent sources.

However, outlining the entire galaxy is going to take time. You're talking a few billion stars, plus the odd planet here and there. Do you need much detail, or would you be fine working off a rough model and writing the story?

 

[alchemist]

Any advice on this? Any resources you could recommend? Ideally I would like to outline my entire galaxy before I start writing.

That could take a little while

You could start here, but it's long. http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/37390-on-creating-imaginary-worlds-science-fiction.html

Otherwise, ask yourself what you need -- an unremarkable universe that serves only as a backdrop to the story (simple, just make it up) or a Banks-like universe full of wonder that's almost like a character itself? For the latter, keeping an eye on the science news may give ideas, or even take inspiration from our own solar system:

Mercury - hot!
Mars - thin atmosphere
Venus - high pressure atmosphere
Gas giants
The moons of Jupiter etc

Edit: snap, Aber!

 

[Mirannan]

The planetology section of Orion's Arm might give you some ideas. I believe, too, that there are various programs out there that generate planetary systems with rules according to current ideas; this would not only make the system believable but automatically work out the various numbers (average temperature, year length...) for you.

Finally, you might want some really peculiar places. Neutron star planets, planets with more carbon than oxygen, planets of solid metal formed by blasting all the volatiles off a gas giant during a supernova...

 

[sozme]

Very interesting links and thank you for the responses. The software is pretty cool - wish I knew how to create new systems in celestia though.

 

[Bowler1]

There's already a thread in writing resources that has all sorts of stuff in you might find useful. I certainly got lots of ideas from the thread.

Hello and welcome some, but I'd recommend characters first.

Feck! - snap alchemist.