Toroidal planet -- spins so fast it's not a sphere or an ellipsoid, but a torus,
like "J.P. Boyd's "Moonbow" story in Analog.

Yes, I know that toroidal planets have been shown to be only "meta stable" in
numerical simulations, and that any perturbation would cause the torus to clump
up and collapse into a ring of debris or something...so you would need some kind
of dynamic stabilization to keep it stable...probably not worth the trouble...

but it looks cool...

Modeled entirely in POVRAY.

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'tirus1e2.png' (354 KB)

Preview of image 'tirus1e2.png'

Ed Sweet wrote:

> Toroidal planet -- spins so fast it's not a sphere or an ellipsoid, but a torus,
> like "J.P. Boyd's "Moonbow" story in Analog.

Hmm ... is this suppose to fill its orbit like in ring world? Even if it
were stable it seems unlikely to form like this without central body.

But it looks nice, like a glow-in-the-dark hula hoop ;)

Post a reply to this message

On 10-11-2012 14:32, Ed Sweet wrote:
> Toroidal planet -- spins so fast it's not a sphere or an ellipsoid, but a torus,
> like "J.P. Boyd's "Moonbow" story in Analog.
>
> Yes, I know that toroidal planets have been shown to be only "meta stable" in
> numerical simulations, and that any perturbation would cause the torus to clump
> up and collapse into a ring of debris or something...so you would need some kind
> of dynamic stabilization to keep it stable...probably not worth the trouble...
>
> but it looks cool...
>
> Modeled entirely in POVRAY.
>

In the tradition of Bill Pragnell's Knotworld and Tek's Chainworld!

Looking good. I suppose an (artificial) central gravity well is needed 
inside the torus.

Now, for a view from its surface!

Thomas

Post a reply to this message

>
> Now, for a view from its surface!
>
> Thomas

Here's what I have so far...needs lots of work -- blurred in Photoshop to make
it look a little better.

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'tirus1e4.jpg' (43 KB)

Preview of image 'tirus1e4.jpg'

"Ed Sweet" <esw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> >
> > Now, for a view from its surface!
> >
> > Thomas
>
> Here's what I have so far...needs lots of work -- blurred in Photoshop to make
> it look a little better.

A better try, using a (scaled tiny) heightfield for the foreground, and
Photoshop color adjustment to compensate for the yellowing from the relatively
deep air.

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'tirus1e5-surfopt-autotone.jpg' (152 KB)

Preview of image 'tirus1e5-surfopt-autotone.jpg'

On 11-11-2012 16:08, Ed Sweet wrote:
> "Ed Sweet" <esw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>>>
>>> Now, for a view from its surface!
>>>
>>> Thomas
>>
>> Here's what I have so far...needs lots of work -- blurred in Photoshop to make
>> it look a little better.
>
> A better try, using a (scaled tiny) heightfield for the foreground, and
> Photoshop color adjustment to compensate for the yellowing from the relatively
> deep air.
>

I truly like this! Next stage would be to use a POV media instead of 
photoshop ;-) but this gives an excellent idea.

Thomas

Post a reply to this message

Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> On 11-11-2012 16:08, Ed Sweet wrote:
> > "Ed Sweet" <esw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Now, for a view from its surface!
> >>>
> >>> Thomas
> >>
> >> Here's what I have so far...needs lots of work -- blurred in Photoshop to make
> >> it look a little better.
> >
> > A better try, using a (scaled tiny) heightfield for the foreground, and
> > Photoshop color adjustment to compensate for the yellowing from the relatively
> > deep air.
> >
>
> I truly like this! Next stage would be to use a POV media instead of
> photoshop ;-) but this gives an excellent idea.
>
> Thomas

This is just POV media, no color correction in Photoshop.  Note the yellowing...

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'tirus1e6-surfopt.png' (695 KB)

Preview of image 'tirus1e6-surfopt.png'

Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> On 11-11-2012 16:08, Ed Sweet wrote:
> > "Ed Sweet" <esw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Now, for a view from its surface!
> >>>
> >>> Thomas
> >>
> >> Here's what I have so far...needs lots of work -- blurred in Photoshop to make
> >> it look a little better.
> >
> > A better try, using a (scaled tiny) heightfield for the foreground, and
> > Photoshop color adjustment to compensate for the yellowing from the relatively
> > deep air.
> >
>
> I truly like this! Next stage would be to use a POV media instead of
> photoshop ;-) but this gives an excellent idea.
>
> Thomas

Here it is with "autotone" in Photoshop.

Post a reply to this message

Attachments:
Download 'tirus1e6-surfopt.jpg' (119 KB)

Preview of image 'tirus1e6-surfopt.jpg'

"Ed Sweet" <esw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
> > On 11-11-2012 16:08, Ed Sweet wrote:
> > > "Ed Sweet" <esw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> > >>>
> > >>> Now, for a view from its surface!
> > >>>
> > >>> Thomas
> > >>
> > >> Here's what I have so far...needs lots of work -- blurred in Photoshop to make
> > >> it look a little better.
> > >
> > > A better try, using a (scaled tiny) heightfield for the foreground, and
> > > Photoshop color adjustment to compensate for the yellowing from the relatively
> > > deep air.
> > >
> >
> > I truly like this! Next stage would be to use a POV media instead of
> > photoshop ;-) but this gives an excellent idea.
> >
> > Thomas
>
> Here it is with "autotone" in Photoshop.

I actually placed the heightfield inside the media to render.  Heightfield was
scaled

scale < 0.05, 0.003, 0.05>

and placed on the surface of the torus (radius = 5, minor radius = 0.2).

Might try to use a Trace() command to populate the surface with desert bushes or
something.

Post a reply to this message

> Thomas de Groot <tho### [at] degrootorg> wrote:
>> On 11-11-2012 16:08, Ed Sweet wrote:
>>> "Ed Sweet" <esw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Now, for a view from its surface!
>>>>>
>>>>> Thomas
>>>>
>>>> Here's what I have so far...needs lots of work -- blurred in Photoshop to make
>>>> it look a little better.
>>>
>>> A better try, using a (scaled tiny) heightfield for the foreground, and
>>> Photoshop color adjustment to compensate for the yellowing from the relatively
>>> deep air.
>>>
>>
>> I truly like this! Next stage would be to use a POV media instead of
>> photoshop ;-) but this gives an excellent idea.
>>
>> Thomas
>
> This is just POV media, no color correction in Photoshop.  Note the yellowing...
>

Very good twilight time image. In my eyes, this one is more convincing 
than the previous one.



Alain

Post a reply to this message