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Hypothetically, could a swamp planet with long nights exist? Additionally, would it be possible for this same planet to have two moons and a sun?

Cid
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    Welcome Cid. We deal with one question per post, so pick one - any further questions can be asked in their own threads. We'd also need quite a few more details. If you asked the question about warmth first, we'd need to know what you mean by that - it's certainly uncomfortably warm here on some nights (southern UK), so tell us what you're trying to achieve that's different from hot and sticky nights that we already experience. What do you mean by "long nights"? Please take our [tour] and refer to the [help], enjoy the site, then you can [edit] your question. – Escaped dental patient. Dec 26 '22 at 00:14
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    What do you mean by "swamp planet"? Is it a planet covered only in swamps? You should tell more about what you already have built/chosen : Planet target size, specificities, etc.. Also, please don't throw over questions over your main one if they're quite different; You can always ask them later once you've solved what's most concerning to you ^^. – Tortliena - inactive Dec 26 '22 at 00:15
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    What exactly do you mean by long nights? On earth different parts of the planet have different day/night lengths due to the planets wobble, but on average its 50/50. Are you looking for a scenario where the whole planet averages 30/70? – Atog Dec 26 '22 at 00:20
  • Hello @Cid, welcome to [worldbuilding.se]. For future reference: (a) We allow one and only one question per post. (b) Per the [help/dont-ask], we don't permit hypothetical questions, you need to present an actual problem to solve. (c) per the [help/on-topic], our job is to help you build an imaginary world, so a legitimate answer to this Q is "yes" without explanation. (d) You are expected to provide details for the problem you are trying to solve, (e.g., given the following star info, orbital info, and planetary info, would the planet have long, warm nights? tag: [tag:internal-consistency]). – JBH Dec 26 '22 at 01:20
  • ... Failing to follow the rules will result in future questions being closed. Please read the [tour] carefully and read through the following two Help Center pages: [help/on-topic] and [help/dont-ask]. thanks. – JBH Dec 26 '22 at 01:20
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    @JBH I think this is a fine question. Yes, it’s written as two, but it comes down to “Can a planet with a swampy/tropical climate exist with two moons, one sun, and a long night?” These are not unrelated concepts. I’m voting to leave it open. – SRM Dec 26 '22 at 02:27
  • @SRM Agreeing that the second question is more constraint than... Question. However we still don't know what they mean by swamp planet exactly nor what kind of night and day length they want ^^. I'm waiting that to reopen. – Tortliena - inactive Dec 26 '22 at 16:38
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    @SRM For the record, I didn't vote to close. Also for the record, unless you can read the OP's mind, you have neither the ability nor the authority to rewrite the question in a way that violates the Help Center's mandate that edits cannot change the OP's meaning - and only the OP can clarify what his/her meaning is. The goal isn't finding ways to justify answering any question. The goal is to help people ask better questions. – JBH Dec 26 '22 at 19:00
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    @JBH I agree with the goal, but there's a balance to strike on new contributors so they don't just post once and leave, which happens often if their first question is just rejected out of the gate, so I try to provide them guidance but also try to get them an answer. Second and later questions I'm more of a stickler. – SRM Dec 26 '22 at 22:33
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    Cid, regardless, the question is closed, so take a look and try to edit it to be more answerable, per the comments above. :-) – SRM Dec 26 '22 at 22:34
  • @SRM I gave guidance and didn't vote to close. Unfortunately, Stack Exchange's basic nature (and expectation) is to close questions that don't meet standards quickly. It stinks, but SE's goal is to have answers that are specifically useful to many people. It isn't to have lots of questions. SE owns the service, not the users. They set 95% of the rules, not the users. We set up the Sandbox to help new users learn how to ask questions. It would be marvelous if more people used it and supported it. – JBH Dec 26 '22 at 22:51
  • Could it have two moons and a sun? Oh boy! lots of planets have multiple moons and moons have nothing to do with the possibility of a sun, I kind of feel that this is sub- primary school stuff, would you perhaps like to edit your question so it looks a bit less umm .. "silly?" – Pelinore Dec 27 '22 at 09:07
  • You realise that !ong nights mean long days right? However the long the night the planet is still getting the same amount of sunlight, it can be tidally locked and it still gets the same amount of 'heat' (energy) from the sun which will be moved around the planet by convection currents, which means that while the 'night' side will of course be colder than the day side it still gets some warmth from the sun transferred to it by the planets winds if it has an atmosphere .. you really haven't thought this through at all have you. – Pelinore Dec 27 '22 at 09:09

2 Answers2

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It is always night on the dark side.

tidally locked

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking

Your planet is tidally locked to its star, like the Moon is tidally locked to the Earth. The dark side of the planet never sees the sun. It is always night.

That is where the two moons come in handy. They are large, close and bright, these moons. A full moon on your swamp planet is much brighter than on Earth. A double full moon lights things up pretty well. Bonus: you would have 2 shadows. Maybe a white moon and a red Mars-like moon? Red light would be pretty cool. Or you could give your planet a ring (perhaps on bended knee), which would always reflect sunlight even better than a moon.

Speculations on photosynthesis in a moonlit planet here: Nocturnal Photosynthesis

Re warmth: it is plenty warm on the sunny side. It is hot. Warm wet winds blow from the sunny side to the swampy night side. It is pretty nice there even though it rains a lot.

Willk
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It would probably be heated by geothermal activity, so it would make a lot of sense if it where a moon orbiting a gas giant, as the planet could block out the star for most of the "day", and tidal forces from a highly elliptical orbit could heat its core, and thus heat the surface through geothermal vents, hot springs, volcanos and other activity.

Sam Kitsune
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    Hi Sam . I believe this contradicts with the idea of this planet having "two moons and a sun". I don't think the querent would have omitted a gas giant orbiting around ^^. In general, it's best to wait until enough information is given before answering, when so little is given. Ah and yes, take a tour and check the help-center, when you have the time :). – Tortliena - inactive Dec 26 '22 at 00:21
  • There's no contradiction in this answer. It just means the answer to the first question is "yes" and the answer to the second question is "not in this case". – JamieB Dec 26 '22 at 18:17