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Has the Gamma Velorum star system been mentioned in a show or movie?
In this weeks Orville episode they mention the Gamma Velorum system as being inhabited by life. I could swear that another TV show or movie discussed this star system also. Does anyone know of a TV show or movie that discussed the Gamma Velorum system? I think it may have been Andromeda, but I couldn't find the episode.
story-identification tv the-orville
edited Jan 26 at 5:52
Buzz
38.3k7129208
asked Jan 26 at 3:46
jmanjman
558216
add a comment |
In this weeks Orville episode they mention the Gamma Velorum system as being inhabited by life. I could swear that another TV show or movie discussed this star system also. Does anyone know of a TV show or movie that discussed the Gamma Velorum system? I think it may have been Andromeda, but I couldn't find the episode.
story-identification tv the-orville
edited Jan 26 at 5:52
Buzz
38.3k7129208
asked Jan 26 at 3:46
jmanjman
558216
add a comment |
In this weeks Orville episode they mention the Gamma Velorum system as being inhabited by life. I could swear that another TV show or movie discussed this star system also. Does anyone know of a TV show or movie that discussed the Gamma Velorum system? I think it may have been Andromeda, but I couldn't find the episode.
story-identification tv the-orville
edited Jan 26 at 5:52
Buzz
38.3k7129208
asked Jan 26 at 3:46
jmanjman
558216
In this weeks Orville episode they mention the Gamma Velorum system as being inhabited by life. I could swear that another TV show or movie discussed this star system also. Does anyone know of a TV show or movie that discussed the Gamma Velorum system? I think it may have been Andromeda, but I couldn't find the episode.
story-identification tv the-orville
story-identification tv the-orville
edited Jan 26 at 5:52
Buzz
38.3k7129208
asked Jan 26 at 3:46
jmanjman
558216
edited Jan 26 at 5:52
Buzz
38.3k7129208
asked Jan 26 at 3:46
jmanjman
558216
edited Jan 26 at 5:52
Buzz
38.3k7129208
edited Jan 26 at 5:52
Buzz
38.3k7129208
edited Jan 26 at 5:52
Buzz
38.3k7129208
38.3k7129208
asked Jan 26 at 3:46
jmanjman
558216
asked Jan 26 at 3:46
jmanjman
558216
asked Jan 26 at 3:46
jmanjman
558216
558216
add a comment |
add a comment |
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
I can not turn up any evidence that Gamma Velorum has been specifically used in a previous science fiction television show or movie. I suspect that you may have heard about the system from a nonfiction source instead. Gamma Velorum is, in reality, one of the comparatively nearby star systems that is least likely to support life. The reasons for this are several:
The system contains no less than four stars (and maybe as many as six), and the chaos of so many massive bodies basically precludes there being sufficiently stable planetary orbits.
The largest star in the system has blown off about three quarters of its original mass, leaving it as an exposed helium-burning core (a Wolf-Rayet star). The mass losses (amounting to at least twenty times the mass of the sun) would have egregiously damaged the atmospheres of any planets that did live in the system, rendering them no longer habitable.
The changes to the largest star would also have, in a relatively brief period (millions, rather than billions of years) have changed the luminosity of the central stars so profoundly that any planet that was originally in a habitable zone would find itself no longer at the right temperature.
However, while these factors make Gamma Velorum not very good as a planetary science fiction setting, it also makes the system extremely interesting for real astronomers. It is a bright naked eye star, visible at southern latitudes, and it has been called the "spectral gem of southern skies," because the interesting spectra of multiple different stars can be easily distinguished using only amateur equipment.
Professional astrophysicists are interested in Wolf-Rayet stars because they, having shed all their outer layers, expose the composition of their underlayers. Many of them, including Gamma Velorum, will probably eventually undergo core collapse supernova explosions.
So the very things that make Gamma Velorum bad for science fiction make it very interesting for science. I suspect, therefore, that you may have heard about the star from a popular science source. There are numerous Web pages and some podcasts discussing the system.
answered Jan 26 at 5:51
BuzzBuzz
38.3k7129208
you are right about many things. But multiple star systems usually have a arrangement in which a pair of stars will be separated from another pair of stars by many times the distances between the stars in the two pairs. Therefore the gravity of the other star in the pair is the many factor perturbing the orbits of planets that orbit around one star in a pair.
– M. A. Golding
Jan 26 at 18:05
add a comment |
I finally found the reference. The star system was mentioned at the end of The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy:
Gamma Velorum was "the closest republican center to Markeb 4 in the old days". Had the series had continued, Gamma Velorum would most likely have been an important star system in the show.
edited Jan 26 at 10:27
Valorum
410k11129863209
answered Jan 26 at 10:05
jmanjman
558216
add a comment |
Gamma Velorum is about 342 parsecs or about 1,115 light years from Earth.
So in the fictional future history of The Orville we can assume that Explorers from Earth have not yet explored every star within 342 Parsecs or 1,115 light years from Earth. The volume of space explored by Earth should be, if spherical, less than 342 parsecs or 1,115 light years in radius.
Presumably no episode has mentioned exploration or contact with any place farther than 1,000 light years from Earth.
It is possible that Earth people have access to the knowledge about star systems explored by members of various alien races. Those alien species and civilizations would started in various star systems and explored space in expanding spheres around their home worlds.
Therefore the known parts of the galaxy in The Orville should consist of various expanding spherical zones of space around the home worlds of various species that discovered FTL drives independently. And many of those spherical zones of exploration may have merged and overlapped with others.
It seems obvious that the Krill, the archenemies of the Union and of Humans, have not yet explored as far as, for example, 2,000 light years from their home world, otherwise they would probably rule eight times as many star systems and be 8 eight times as powerful, which would be bad for the health of the heroes.
answered Jan 26 at 18:03
M. A. GoldingM. A. Golding
14.8k12357
add a comment |
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I can not turn up any evidence that Gamma Velorum has been specifically used in a previous science fiction television show or movie. I suspect that you may have heard about the system from a nonfiction source instead. Gamma Velorum is, in reality, one of the comparatively nearby star systems that is least likely to support life. The reasons for this are several:
The system contains no less than four stars (and maybe as many as six), and the chaos of so many massive bodies basically precludes there being sufficiently stable planetary orbits.
The largest star in the system has blown off about three quarters of its original mass, leaving it as an exposed helium-burning core (a Wolf-Rayet star). The mass losses (amounting to at least twenty times the mass of the sun) would have egregiously damaged the atmospheres of any planets that did live in the system, rendering them no longer habitable.
The changes to the largest star would also have, in a relatively brief period (millions, rather than billions of years) have changed the luminosity of the central stars so profoundly that any planet that was originally in a habitable zone would find itself no longer at the right temperature.
However, while these factors make Gamma Velorum not very good as a planetary science fiction setting, it also makes the system extremely interesting for real astronomers. It is a bright naked eye star, visible at southern latitudes, and it has been called the "spectral gem of southern skies," because the interesting spectra of multiple different stars can be easily distinguished using only amateur equipment.
Professional astrophysicists are interested in Wolf-Rayet stars because they, having shed all their outer layers, expose the composition of their underlayers. Many of them, including Gamma Velorum, will probably eventually undergo core collapse supernova explosions.
So the very things that make Gamma Velorum bad for science fiction make it very interesting for science. I suspect, therefore, that you may have heard about the star from a popular science source. There are numerous Web pages and some podcasts discussing the system.
answered Jan 26 at 5:51
BuzzBuzz
38.3k7129208
you are right about many things. But multiple star systems usually have a arrangement in which a pair of stars will be separated from another pair of stars by many times the distances between the stars in the two pairs. Therefore the gravity of the other star in the pair is the many factor perturbing the orbits of planets that orbit around one star in a pair.
– M. A. Golding
Jan 26 at 18:05
add a comment |
I can not turn up any evidence that Gamma Velorum has been specifically used in a previous science fiction television show or movie. I suspect that you may have heard about the system from a nonfiction source instead. Gamma Velorum is, in reality, one of the comparatively nearby star systems that is least likely to support life. The reasons for this are several:
The system contains no less than four stars (and maybe as many as six), and the chaos of so many massive bodies basically precludes there being sufficiently stable planetary orbits.
The largest star in the system has blown off about three quarters of its original mass, leaving it as an exposed helium-burning core (a Wolf-Rayet star). The mass losses (amounting to at least twenty times the mass of the sun) would have egregiously damaged the atmospheres of any planets that did live in the system, rendering them no longer habitable.
The changes to the largest star would also have, in a relatively brief period (millions, rather than billions of years) have changed the luminosity of the central stars so profoundly that any planet that was originally in a habitable zone would find itself no longer at the right temperature.
However, while these factors make Gamma Velorum not very good as a planetary science fiction setting, it also makes the system extremely interesting for real astronomers. It is a bright naked eye star, visible at southern latitudes, and it has been called the "spectral gem of southern skies," because the interesting spectra of multiple different stars can be easily distinguished using only amateur equipment.
Professional astrophysicists are interested in Wolf-Rayet stars because they, having shed all their outer layers, expose the composition of their underlayers. Many of them, including Gamma Velorum, will probably eventually undergo core collapse supernova explosions.
So the very things that make Gamma Velorum bad for science fiction make it very interesting for science. I suspect, therefore, that you may have heard about the star from a popular science source. There are numerous Web pages and some podcasts discussing the system.
answered Jan 26 at 5:51
BuzzBuzz
38.3k7129208
you are right about many things. But multiple star systems usually have a arrangement in which a pair of stars will be separated from another pair of stars by many times the distances between the stars in the two pairs. Therefore the gravity of the other star in the pair is the many factor perturbing the orbits of planets that orbit around one star in a pair.
– M. A. Golding
Jan 26 at 18:05
add a comment |
I can not turn up any evidence that Gamma Velorum has been specifically used in a previous science fiction television show or movie. I suspect that you may have heard about the system from a nonfiction source instead. Gamma Velorum is, in reality, one of the comparatively nearby star systems that is least likely to support life. The reasons for this are several:
The system contains no less than four stars (and maybe as many as six), and the chaos of so many massive bodies basically precludes there being sufficiently stable planetary orbits.
The largest star in the system has blown off about three quarters of its original mass, leaving it as an exposed helium-burning core (a Wolf-Rayet star). The mass losses (amounting to at least twenty times the mass of the sun) would have egregiously damaged the atmospheres of any planets that did live in the system, rendering them no longer habitable.
The changes to the largest star would also have, in a relatively brief period (millions, rather than billions of years) have changed the luminosity of the central stars so profoundly that any planet that was originally in a habitable zone would find itself no longer at the right temperature.
However, while these factors make Gamma Velorum not very good as a planetary science fiction setting, it also makes the system extremely interesting for real astronomers. It is a bright naked eye star, visible at southern latitudes, and it has been called the "spectral gem of southern skies," because the interesting spectra of multiple different stars can be easily distinguished using only amateur equipment.
Professional astrophysicists are interested in Wolf-Rayet stars because they, having shed all their outer layers, expose the composition of their underlayers. Many of them, including Gamma Velorum, will probably eventually undergo core collapse supernova explosions.
So the very things that make Gamma Velorum bad for science fiction make it very interesting for science. I suspect, therefore, that you may have heard about the star from a popular science source. There are numerous Web pages and some podcasts discussing the system.
answered Jan 26 at 5:51
BuzzBuzz
38.3k7129208
I can not turn up any evidence that Gamma Velorum has been specifically used in a previous science fiction television show or movie. I suspect that you may have heard about the system from a nonfiction source instead. Gamma Velorum is, in reality, one of the comparatively nearby star systems that is least likely to support life. The reasons for this are several:
The system contains no less than four stars (and maybe as many as six), and the chaos of so many massive bodies basically precludes there being sufficiently stable planetary orbits.
The largest star in the system has blown off about three quarters of its original mass, leaving it as an exposed helium-burning core (a Wolf-Rayet star). The mass losses (amounting to at least twenty times the mass of the sun) would have egregiously damaged the atmospheres of any planets that did live in the system, rendering them no longer habitable.
The changes to the largest star would also have, in a relatively brief period (millions, rather than billions of years) have changed the luminosity of the central stars so profoundly that any planet that was originally in a habitable zone would find itself no longer at the right temperature.
However, while these factors make Gamma Velorum not very good as a planetary science fiction setting, it also makes the system extremely interesting for real astronomers. It is a bright naked eye star, visible at southern latitudes, and it has been called the "spectral gem of southern skies," because the interesting spectra of multiple different stars can be easily distinguished using only amateur equipment.
Professional astrophysicists are interested in Wolf-Rayet stars because they, having shed all their outer layers, expose the composition of their underlayers. Many of them, including Gamma Velorum, will probably eventually undergo core collapse supernova explosions.
So the very things that make Gamma Velorum bad for science fiction make it very interesting for science. I suspect, therefore, that you may have heard about the star from a popular science source. There are numerous Web pages and some podcasts discussing the system.
answered Jan 26 at 5:51
BuzzBuzz
38.3k7129208
answered Jan 26 at 5:51
BuzzBuzz
38.3k7129208
answered Jan 26 at 5:51
BuzzBuzz
38.3k7129208
answered Jan 26 at 5:51
BuzzBuzz
38.3k7129208
38.3k7129208
you are right about many things. But multiple star systems usually have a arrangement in which a pair of stars will be separated from another pair of stars by many times the distances between the stars in the two pairs. Therefore the gravity of the other star in the pair is the many factor perturbing the orbits of planets that orbit around one star in a pair.
– M. A. Golding
Jan 26 at 18:05
add a comment |
you are right about many things. But multiple star systems usually have a arrangement in which a pair of stars will be separated from another pair of stars by many times the distances between the stars in the two pairs. Therefore the gravity of the other star in the pair is the many factor perturbing the orbits of planets that orbit around one star in a pair.
– M. A. Golding
Jan 26 at 18:05
you are right about many things. But multiple star systems usually have a arrangement in which a pair of stars will be separated from another pair of stars by many times the distances between the stars in the two pairs. Therefore the gravity of the other star in the pair is the many factor perturbing the orbits of planets that orbit around one star in a pair.
– M. A. Golding
Jan 26 at 18:05
you are right about many things. But multiple star systems usually have a arrangement in which a pair of stars will be separated from another pair of stars by many times the distances between the stars in the two pairs. Therefore the gravity of the other star in the pair is the many factor perturbing the orbits of planets that orbit around one star in a pair.
– M. A. Golding
Jan 26 at 18:05
add a comment |
I finally found the reference. The star system was mentioned at the end of The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy:
Gamma Velorum was "the closest republican center to Markeb 4 in the old days". Had the series had continued, Gamma Velorum would most likely have been an important star system in the show.
edited Jan 26 at 10:27
Valorum
410k11129863209
answered Jan 26 at 10:05
jmanjman
558216
add a comment |
I finally found the reference. The star system was mentioned at the end of The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy:
Gamma Velorum was "the closest republican center to Markeb 4 in the old days". Had the series had continued, Gamma Velorum would most likely have been an important star system in the show.
edited Jan 26 at 10:27
Valorum
410k11129863209
answered Jan 26 at 10:05
jmanjman
558216
add a comment |
I finally found the reference. The star system was mentioned at the end of The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy:
Gamma Velorum was "the closest republican center to Markeb 4 in the old days". Had the series had continued, Gamma Velorum would most likely have been an important star system in the show.
edited Jan 26 at 10:27
Valorum
410k11129863209
answered Jan 26 at 10:05
jmanjman
558216
I finally found the reference. The star system was mentioned at the end of The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy:
Gamma Velorum was "the closest republican center to Markeb 4 in the old days". Had the series had continued, Gamma Velorum would most likely have been an important star system in the show.
edited Jan 26 at 10:27
Valorum
410k11129863209
answered Jan 26 at 10:05
jmanjman
558216
edited Jan 26 at 10:27
Valorum
410k11129863209
edited Jan 26 at 10:27
Valorum
410k11129863209
edited Jan 26 at 10:27
Valorum
410k11129863209
410k11129863209
answered Jan 26 at 10:05
jmanjman
558216
answered Jan 26 at 10:05
jmanjman
558216
answered Jan 26 at 10:05
jmanjman
558216
558216
add a comment |
add a comment |
Gamma Velorum is about 342 parsecs or about 1,115 light years from Earth.
So in the fictional future history of The Orville we can assume that Explorers from Earth have not yet explored every star within 342 Parsecs or 1,115 light years from Earth. The volume of space explored by Earth should be, if spherical, less than 342 parsecs or 1,115 light years in radius.
Presumably no episode has mentioned exploration or contact with any place farther than 1,000 light years from Earth.
It is possible that Earth people have access to the knowledge about star systems explored by members of various alien races. Those alien species and civilizations would started in various star systems and explored space in expanding spheres around their home worlds.
Therefore the known parts of the galaxy in The Orville should consist of various expanding spherical zones of space around the home worlds of various species that discovered FTL drives independently. And many of those spherical zones of exploration may have merged and overlapped with others.
It seems obvious that the Krill, the archenemies of the Union and of Humans, have not yet explored as far as, for example, 2,000 light years from their home world, otherwise they would probably rule eight times as many star systems and be 8 eight times as powerful, which would be bad for the health of the heroes.
answered Jan 26 at 18:03
M. A. GoldingM. A. Golding
14.8k12357
add a comment |
Gamma Velorum is about 342 parsecs or about 1,115 light years from Earth.
So in the fictional future history of The Orville we can assume that Explorers from Earth have not yet explored every star within 342 Parsecs or 1,115 light years from Earth. The volume of space explored by Earth should be, if spherical, less than 342 parsecs or 1,115 light years in radius.
Presumably no episode has mentioned exploration or contact with any place farther than 1,000 light years from Earth.
It is possible that Earth people have access to the knowledge about star systems explored by members of various alien races. Those alien species and civilizations would started in various star systems and explored space in expanding spheres around their home worlds.
Therefore the known parts of the galaxy in The Orville should consist of various expanding spherical zones of space around the home worlds of various species that discovered FTL drives independently. And many of those spherical zones of exploration may have merged and overlapped with others.
It seems obvious that the Krill, the archenemies of the Union and of Humans, have not yet explored as far as, for example, 2,000 light years from their home world, otherwise they would probably rule eight times as many star systems and be 8 eight times as powerful, which would be bad for the health of the heroes.
answered Jan 26 at 18:03
M. A. GoldingM. A. Golding
14.8k12357
add a comment |
Gamma Velorum is about 342 parsecs or about 1,115 light years from Earth.
So in the fictional future history of The Orville we can assume that Explorers from Earth have not yet explored every star within 342 Parsecs or 1,115 light years from Earth. The volume of space explored by Earth should be, if spherical, less than 342 parsecs or 1,115 light years in radius.
Presumably no episode has mentioned exploration or contact with any place farther than 1,000 light years from Earth.
It is possible that Earth people have access to the knowledge about star systems explored by members of various alien races. Those alien species and civilizations would started in various star systems and explored space in expanding spheres around their home worlds.
Therefore the known parts of the galaxy in The Orville should consist of various expanding spherical zones of space around the home worlds of various species that discovered FTL drives independently. And many of those spherical zones of exploration may have merged and overlapped with others.
It seems obvious that the Krill, the archenemies of the Union and of Humans, have not yet explored as far as, for example, 2,000 light years from their home world, otherwise they would probably rule eight times as many star systems and be 8 eight times as powerful, which would be bad for the health of the heroes.
answered Jan 26 at 18:03
M. A. GoldingM. A. Golding
14.8k12357
Gamma Velorum is about 342 parsecs or about 1,115 light years from Earth.
So in the fictional future history of The Orville we can assume that Explorers from Earth have not yet explored every star within 342 Parsecs or 1,115 light years from Earth. The volume of space explored by Earth should be, if spherical, less than 342 parsecs or 1,115 light years in radius.
Presumably no episode has mentioned exploration or contact with any place farther than 1,000 light years from Earth.
It is possible that Earth people have access to the knowledge about star systems explored by members of various alien races. Those alien species and civilizations would started in various star systems and explored space in expanding spheres around their home worlds.
Therefore the known parts of the galaxy in The Orville should consist of various expanding spherical zones of space around the home worlds of various species that discovered FTL drives independently. And many of those spherical zones of exploration may have merged and overlapped with others.
It seems obvious that the Krill, the archenemies of the Union and of Humans, have not yet explored as far as, for example, 2,000 light years from their home world, otherwise they would probably rule eight times as many star systems and be 8 eight times as powerful, which would be bad for the health of the heroes.
answered Jan 26 at 18:03
M. A. GoldingM. A. Golding
14.8k12357
answered Jan 26 at 18:03
M. A. GoldingM. A. Golding
14.8k12357
answered Jan 26 at 18:03
M. A. GoldingM. A. Golding
14.8k12357
answered Jan 26 at 18:03
M. A. GoldingM. A. Golding
14.8k12357
14.8k12357
add a comment |
add a comment |
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