Questions tagged [planets]

Planets are large celestial bodies in orbit around a star. Sometimes, large moons are also called planets - especially if they are able to support some kind of life. A typically habitable planet is about 6,000 kilometres in diameter, while large gas giants can be much bigger. Planets can be host to millions of sentient inhabitants, or barren wastelands, or anywhere in between.

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During the TNG era, how were the visual effects for planets produced?

In TNG, most of the ships look really good due to excellent model work. A lot of the on-screen effects look sort of hokey (think various iffy aliens, 2D morphing, motion capture of insect parasites, ...
ThePopMachine's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
73 views

Looking for the title of about time/space and astrophysics

Looking for the title of a book for young kids (8-13). The premise of the books is: a "supreme" race that generates planets and is in charge of organizing the cosmos. The leader has several offsprings ...
Susy's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
557 views

CG series about a beast planet

I remember seeing this series back when I was in the early grades of primary school (prep to 3) so this would be between 1996 and 1999 from what I remember it was set in space and the cast was made ...
Memor-X's user avatar
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6 votes
5 answers
402 views

Sci Fi Novella with different political systems on different planets

I'm trying to find a novella for my mother, that she has read a long time ago. She says it was before I was born, that would be '86 but I wouldn't be too sure about that. The only thing she has been ...
Miko's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Children's Sci-Fi novel 1980s, another planet with moth-like creatures and glass-like grass [duplicate]

I'm trying to figure out the title of a book I read as a child -- probably around 1988 -- aimed at 9-10 year olds. The story had to do with people leaving Earth and they were only able to take one ...
Rachel's user avatar
  • 141
6 votes
2 answers
270 views

Earliest known example of a "hot-Jupiter" in fiction

Does anyone know when a gas giant planet that orbits very close to its star was first used in science fiction? The first one was discovered in 1995 and no planet formation theory predicted it (...
Wander88's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
253 views

Looking for old (maybe 60's) b&w movie with colliding planets and dinosaurs!

I'm looking for an old SciFi movie I'd seen as a child (a long time ago). I just remember, the earth is colliding with another planet (and it's not "When Worlds collide") and the atmospheres of the 2 ...
the1andonlydrno's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
958 views

Short story about humans landing on a planet met with human-like aliens

I'm looking for the title/author of a short story in which humans are living on a ship on another planet and they let in a human-looking male alien. The alien is (possibly) red-headed and very good-...
Buttons23's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
277 views

Was starkiller base a rogue planet? [duplicate]

Was Starkiller Base a rogue planet, wandering through the galaxy/universe? The planet could be similar to Zonama Sekot,( a sentient world born from the homeworld of the Yuuzhan Vong, and capable of ...
user35971's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
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What neutral planets existed at the time of the Rebellion?

During the establishment of the Empire and the rise of the Rebellion, were there any important (populous, wealthy, and/or strategic) planets which were neutral, meaning not nominally part of the ...
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6 votes
0 answers
98 views

Classic SF short story. Men transmit consciousness into bodies that can live in Jupiter [duplicate]

The protagonist is the leader of the team of scientists exploring inside the gas of Jupiter. The scientists sent to explore have their consciousness transmitted into bodies that can survive there. I ...
Judith Jones's user avatar
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6 votes
0 answers
99 views

1980s serialized novel in Analog about an alien planet named something like Midanoa

This question made me think of a novel from Analog that I read part of in the 1980s. There's an alien planet being colonized by humans; the inhabitants are humanoid but fur-covered. The aliens call ...
Andrew's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
2k views

What 80s sci-fi series features a distant planet populated by ancient Egyptians?

I am trying to remember a science fiction series from the '80s where humans travel to a distant planet/galaxy using a new kind of fuel source. When they arrive at their destination, they find the ...
user26068's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
4k views

1980's children's illustrated book where we are given a tour of other planets

I am looking for a children's book from most likely the late 80's. I was born in 87 and remember reading the book as a kid. It was an illustrated book where we are given a tour of other planets and ...
Gordon's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
186 views

Girl sent to defeat planet that uses attacker's own defenses to defeat them

Looking for the name of a science fiction novel. It's about a planet that is able to pick up your defenses and it is slowly growing and destroying other planets. Nobody can infiltrate because this ...
Alex's user avatar
  • 51
5 votes
2 answers
596 views

Story about a Dystopian Future involving data-planets

I don't know what the cover art may have been, nor the publication date. This was described to me by someone, and I want to find it and read it. No idea on the author, but here's the description I ...
Jonathan McGuire's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
118 views

Humans are kept as livestock by aliens. They all know an old song. The song teaches them how to fly their long abandoned spaceship [duplicate]

I read this short story about 2015. I think it was old at the time. The planet was settled by humans long ago. The indigenous aliens later beat them in a war. Humans are kept as livestock on farms, ...
Judith Jones's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
226 views

Book title: Only plot point remembered is bugs that eat through rock and create jewels/gems

I'm fairly certain this is a sci-fi book, not a movie. On an alien planet, a person discovers that these "bugs" (if memory serves that are the size of say turtles...) burrow and dig through rock, ...
Remmy700P's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

How is Qresh capable of supporting human life?

Season one of the series Killjoys takes place primarily in 'the quad' two known moons (Westerly and Leith) both of which have human populations and a third moon thought to be barren and lifeless (...
Nu'Daq's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
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Why did Yoda tell the Rebels to go to Malachor?

When the Rebels decided to fight back against the Inquisitors and sought Yoda's advice for help, Yoda told them to go to Malachor. Why there of all places? Surely not so they could employ the Sith ...
thegreatjedi's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
273 views

Looking for the name of a graphic novel about an astronaut who crashes on a planet with limited water

I am looking for the title of a graphic novel/comic book series probably from the 1970s or 1980s where an astronaut's ship is dragged through a wormhole and crashes on a planet that has little water. ...
mdc's user avatar
  • 49
4 votes
1 answer
101 views

Trying to find 1960s comic about another planet

I remember reading a comic book in the 1960s about people (maybe a family?) visiting another planet, whose original inhabitants had used up the planet's oceans by using the hydrogen for propulsion to ...
rick trilling's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
79 views

Is there a (romantic?) story with a purple beach with silver sky and three blue moons?

Is there a (romantic?) story with being referenced by 2004's The Fairy Godmother, given its habit of referencing various stories, although usually fairy tales, but is this romantic / erotic dream's ...
Malady's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
173 views

Author+title of story of planet inhabited by intelligence which makes mouse and man evolve on ship

In my youth, I’ve read countless science fiction and fantasy books. One of these, when I finished it, I felt like a part of my life ended with the end of the book, and surely there must be a sequel… ...
Yves's user avatar
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4 votes
0 answers
805 views

By what mechanism are lasers meant to destroy an entire planet? [closed]

Question turned out to be off-topic. "Migrated" to Worldbuilding. I'm referring to two events that I recall immediately (the destruction of the Borg planet in the Scorpion episode of Star Trek: ...
trejder's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Short Story about Schoolchildren on Venus [duplicate]

I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out the title and author of a short story I read in school so that I can share it with my husband who also really appreciates science fiction. It is about ...
Avenue Potter's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
298 views

Were they ever worried about running dry on resources in the Star Wars galaxy?

On Earth, we are constantly worried about running out of resources like metals and oil and natural gas. The Star Wars galaxy uses fusion and hypermatter for energy BUT they mine tons of metal to build ...
Max's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
413 views

Book title with a harsh alien world and buoyant balloon-like beings [duplicate]

I specifically remember that those buoyant explosive gas filled balloons were an annoyance for flying ships. This is mentioned several times in the book. At the end they seemed to play a very ...
Yuta73's user avatar
  • 315
3 votes
1 answer
209 views

Is most of the Star Wars galaxy colonized?

I watch all Star Wars TV shows and read all Star Wars literature. In these stories, characters go to tons and tons of new (relative to the audience) planets and it seems a majority of them have been ...
Sam's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
145 views

Cartoon show about a man who went to a restaurant/restroom not knowing it was a government testing facility

I am looking a cartoon I found in YouTube. It is sort of like an animation mix video about a modern normal Earth guy who went to a restaurant or restroom without realising it is a government testing ...
Maria Zapata's user avatar
  • 1,097
3 votes
0 answers
88 views

book cover: a planet which has a creepy smiling face of a girl

I only remember the cover. I am pretty sure it was a sequel in some series. Definitely young adult. It was a girl's face on the surface of a planet just smiling creepily. I think it must be some ...
Anna L.'s user avatar
  • 31
2 votes
1 answer
451 views

Animated series with secret inside planet stardrive [duplicate]

If I rememeber well, it must be an animated series frome the mid 90's, possibly the early 2000's. I'm mostly sure it was broadcasted on either France 3, canal J or cartoon network Part of the plot ...
Remy Grandin's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
193 views

Why do planets in Star Wars only have one environment? [duplicate]

This thought came to me concerning the Star Wars universe. On our planet (Earth) we have many different habitats (snowy wastelands, forests, cities); but in the Star Wars universe there only appears ...
Ben Poulter's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
380 views

Which (non-Earth) planet appears in the most Babylon 5 episodes?

I was inspired by this question: Which (non-Earth) planet appears in the most Star Trek episodes? to ask the same for Babylon 5. I'll also adopt the same rules: "appears" means a scene in the ...
Kidburla's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
431 views

Do any movies/shows attempt to portray non-Earth, but non-micro gravity?

We've all seen movies and TV shows that portray zero-gravity situations, floating on space stations, etc. And we've all seen movies and TV shows where alien planets are conveniently Earth-like, and ...
Nerrolken's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
94 views

SciFi book with man and woman traveling across planets in a three seater cycle, with their pet dog

I remember reading a SciFi book as a child! It involved a man and a woman, possibly sibilings traveling across different planets in a three seater cycle along with their pet dog! The book must be from ...
Berlin Cherish's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
902 views

Is there blood on the planet Crait?

One of the most visually impressive things of the new Star Wars movie The Last Jedi is the depiction of the planet Crait. At a first sight, its likeness is of an ice crust covering a bloody soil. At ...
Sekhemty's user avatar
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-2 votes
1 answer
269 views

50s or 60s sci fi film about people on alien planet

I remember seeing parts of an old sci fi movie about a group of people on an alien planet. The aliens kind of look like bugs. One of the people in the group is a woman who is trapped by the aliens, ...
DANNYD's user avatar
  • 11
-3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Old SciFi book about a prison planet [closed]

Trying to remember a sci-fi book I read in the 70s about a boy/young man getting caught and put on a prison planet that was "hell-like". He eventually escapes.
Pops52's user avatar
  • 7
-5 votes
1 answer
379 views

Would the planet Coruscant fall into a black hole? [closed]

The Planet Coruscant in the Star Wars Galaxy is close to the deep core of the galaxy. So how likely would the planet fall into the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy?
Riju Chaudhuri's user avatar
-9 votes
1 answer
160 views

Will the Star Wars galaxy run out of space for planets? [closed]

I know that the average galaxy has over 400 billion stars and most stars have planets around it so it seems foolish to think the writers would ever run out of planets. It’s just for the suspension of ...
Max's user avatar
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