| Subject: Re: If life is normal... (Crossposted) |
| From: Jonathan Silverlight |
| Date: 21/07/2003, 22:24 |
| Newsgroups: alt.sci.planetary,alt.sci.seti,sci.astro.seti |
In message
<llsmp09lk7.fsf@adams.patriot.net>, Joseph Lazio
<jlazio@adams.patriot.net> writes
Well, no. A huge difference between Earth and Venus, in addition to
the presence of a moon, is the thickness of their atmospheres. I've
certainly never heard of the Moon's tides as being responsible for
keeping the Earth's interior molten. That is ascribed to the presence
of radionuclides in its interior. Venus is different, not only
because it has lost its oceans, but because its atmosphere keeps the
surface so hot.
In his story "Wrong Way Street" Larry Niven wrote that the Moon helped
there, by stripping off most of the Earth's atmosphere. Was that ever a
serious theory? I'd guess it's been discarded in favour of the idea that
Venus has a thick atmosphere because it's closer to the Sun and hence
hotter.
And would the Earth still have a thick atmosphere if it hadn't been
blown off by the collision that formed the Moon?
--
"Roads in space for rockets to travel....four-dimensional roads, curving with
relativity"
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