re what planets are habitable in article jpg apr holly bnr co uk jpg bnr co uk jonathan p gibbons writes i would appreciate any thoughts on what makes a planet habitable for humans i am making asumptions that life and a similar atmosphere evolve given a range of physical aspects of the planet the question is what physical aspects simply disallow earth like conditions eg temperature range of k to k where temp is purely dependant on dist from the sun and the suns temperature atmospheric presure i know nothing of human tolerance planetary mass again gravity at surface is important how much can human bodies take day after day also how does the mass effect atmosphere i thinking of planets between and times mass of the earth i suppose density should be important as well climate etc does not concern me nor does axial tilt etc etc just the above three factors and how they relate to one another dandridge cole and isaac asimov collaborated on a book titled habitable planets for man i think in it should be available in most good libraries or through inter library loan it answered the questions you ask speculatively of course along with many more that need to be considered in habitability studies length of day for day night temperature variation and agricultural concerns partial pressures of certain unexpected gasses ever hear of xenon narcosis neither did i density of particulates in the atm and their composition ever hear of silicosis not much fun etc climate isn t a global phenomenon and probably needn t concern you but axial tilt ought to it plays a large part in determining the severity of seasonal differences and a lesser but still significant part in determining the speed of prevailing winds doug loss loss husky bloomu edu
