Amazing new theory to explain the Kerbol system!

[gmpd2000]

First off, where does Jool come from?

Jool is actually VENUS! The thick atmosphere explains it! This theory also explains its radius and surface gravity (0.8g).

Where do the inner planets come from?

After the sun became an giant, it destroyed mercury, leaving large chunks of debris, the main ones are now known as: Moho, Eve, Kerbin and Duna.

The above theory also explains Kerbol's small size, Kerbol is a white dwarf! It is a bit orange for an white dwarf, but that is because several billion years have passed.

That also explains why Kerbin has life, It had billions of years to evolve life.

And after the sun became a white dwarf, the outer planets (Jupiter & friends) No longer had a gravitational attraction to the sun, they were ejected into interstellar space.

It all works!

[Yukon0009]

How about the insane densities of the planets?

[gmpd2000]

How about the insane densities of the planets?

Ummmm, You know, Giant star stuff...

[SlabGizor117]

Ummmm, You know, Giant star stuff...

This is how people say the Big Bang Theory is a fact?

[DocMoriarty]

How about the insane densities of the planets?

I think a totally bored black hole passed by and compressed all them planets and moons to the max, then spit them out again into their orbits that we know today.

[Whirligig Girl]

There are two things I like to think about, depending on which is best applied to the situation.

1: Kerbin is actually full Earth scale, it just isn't full scale in the game. THis idea came about when I was reading the Team Fortress 2 Comics, and it was mentioned that the game was supposedly a historical documentary videogame.

2: Kerbin and the rest of the solar system exist in another universe where gravity is 10 times stronger.

There's also a backup one that I resort to whenever I want to merge model 2 with the fact that Kerbals are on Earth in 1951 in RealSolarSystem. Their universe is either: Actually superdense stuff like white dwarfs and such, Or: they're in a pocket of universe where gravitation is higher, though the latter is probably much less likely.

And then there's the Advanced Civilization Idea. The easter eggs and monuments and everything come from a progenitor civilization, and they are in fact so powerful that they have created the cores of the Kerbal Planets in a small patch of dust and gas.

[Guest]

I have an old RSS config floating around that treats KSP's solar system to reality, going purely off the radius of stellar objects. It started from a thought experiment by eggrobin and NovaSilisko. Basically the radius of Kerbol matches a lower-end M class star while the radius of most of the other planets indicated that they were Ceres-like objects with similar densities. Jool was, indeed, intended to be a Venus-like planet. It was kind of fun to fly around in because your launch vehicle was pretty much your transfer stage and everything was tinged red from the light of the sun, but I never really pursued it because I didn't bother coding a way to get rid of Kerbin's atmosphere shader on the map view and Jool has no PQS controller for land so you can't give it a surface.

[klgraham1013]

This is how people say the Big Bang Theory is a fact?

What?

[Scoundrel]

Lies! Lies! It's all LIES!

Everyone knows that the Kerbol system was created when the Great Galactic Space Kraken sneezed!

You see, in the beginning the Kerbalverse was without form and void (and orbital mechanics and symmetry and tweakables... luckily those came later). Then the divine HarvesteR created Kerbin, which the sun rotated around (seriously, Kerbin didn't rotate back in the day) and the Mün was merely a circle that floated in the sky.

Then, one day, and quite by accident, the Great Galactic Space Kraken inhaled the both the Sun and the Mün!... and found out it was allergic so it sneezed them back out, but into a 3d form. However, as we all know, sneezes come in threezes (meh, it's a Kerbal saying, just go with it), and thus the Kerbalverse was sprayed with two more mighty spewings of Galactic Krakenmucous, which then coalesced into the planets we have today!

As for explaining the extreme density, well, people have to remember that the Great Galactic Space Kraken also had like a cold or something the week before, and had been eating a lot of dairy because it read this thing on the internet that said yoghurt and cheese was good for you, so the Krakensnot was extra gooey that day.

Well... it's either that, or the Kerbalverse is simply one of the many multiverses that has different constants for weak nuclear forces and such.

Obviously one makes for a better creation myth than the other.

[keeper]

There's no way i could ever imagine that kerbin is earth. (or the equivilent of)

I like that is has some resemblance - mud, water, hills etc that we see on earth, and even the moon!

There's no sign of life on that planet whatsoever, they must be in a different solar system.

The only coincidink is the next planet out is red, which is similar to our solar system. I call Duna "Mars" accidentally all the time. (still not got there)

[problemecium]

This makes sense if you presume that against all the major accepted predictions the Sun won't expand all the way out to Earth's orbit, in doing so vaporizing Venus.

I concur on the white dwarf thing. They do turn yellow and orange after a long time has passed, but the planet densities remain a mystery.

[Hobbes Novakoff]

Everyone knows that the Kerbol system was created when the Great Galactic Space Kraken sneezed!

Oh my god! That's it! Everything fits together now! I would give you a Kobel Prize, but I'm just an intern, so have some +Rep.

[Bill Phil]

I still say scaled units. That Jool is 60,000 of our kilometers in radius. isn't the Kerbal Speed of Light different, too? In that case, the "meter" would scale accordingly.

[match]

Jebediah is my great, great, great, great, great.... umm, he's this old uncle of mine. But his grandparents got in a pickle when they were younger and he went back in time to straighten them out. Then he and his buddies went gallivanting across time in search of snacks. Incessant disregard for the laws of relativity eventually ejected them from the eighth dimension which in turn caused an inverse improbability wave to spew forth from the closest stellar body. Our solar system was swapped with an identical system on the opposite side of the galaxy. They were the exactly the same except the residents of the other system eat their corn on the cob up and down instead of sideways... and talk backwards.

Yes, I am from the future. And no, it's not pretty... why do you think we all came here? But we did bring wine... and snacks, lots of snacks.

true storyâ„¢

[stupid_chris]

Jool is actually VENUS! The thick atmosphere explains it! This theory also explains its radius and surface gravity (0.8g).

Venus is actually slightly above 0.9G. Also Venus's semi-major axis is ~108 million km, while Jool's is ~68 million km. That's 50 million km too close, that doesn't make sense.

After the sun became an giant, it destroyed mercury, leaving large chunks of debris, the main ones are now known as: Moho, Eve, Kerbin and Duna.

Anything destroyed by a supergiant would probably not leave debris and simply fuse with said supergiant.

The above theory also explains Kerbol's small size, Kerbol is a white dwarf! It is a bit orange for an white dwarf, but that is because several billion years have passed.

It's radiating way too much heat to make sense. It's way too big and much too light. Kerbol sits at about 0.3 solar radii and 0.01 solar mass, while no white dwarf has been found above 0.02 solar radii or under 0.17 solar masses. That makes no sense either.

That also explains why Kerbin has life, It had billions of years to evolve life.

Giving a few billion years to something don't mean it'll grow life. If Kerbol was a white dwarf, it's habitability zone would be no further than 0.02 AU, and Kerbin sits at 0.1 AU, that's way too far.

And after the sun became a white dwarf, the outer planets (Jupiter & friends) No longer had a gravitational attraction to the sun, they were ejected into interstellar space.

I'd need some paper to figure out how the orbits would look, but a quick plugging of the numbers is telling me that if the Sun suddenly became a typical white dwarf of 0.6 solar mass, only Neptune would escape for sure. The other would end up in highly eccentric orbit, probably reaching somewhat in the Kuiper belt.

It all works!

Not satisfied, too many loose ends. Let's just all accept the Kerbol system is not related to our solar system. The explanation that makes the most sense to me is still that the whole Kerbol system is a set of Dyson shells build by an advanced alien race and that Kerbals are one of their thought experiments. "Let's drop some rocket equipment by the roads on a small planet we'll build, and then drop a bunch of impulse driven dwarf creatures, and see what happens?"

Edited March 1, 2015 by stupid_chris

[SelectHalfling0]

Lies! Lies! It's all LIES!

Everyone knows that the Kerbol system was created when the Great Galactic Space Kraken sneezed!

You see, in the beginning the Kerbalverse was without form and void (and orbital mechanics and symmetry and tweakables... luckily those came later). Then the divine HarvesteR created Kerbin, which the sun rotated around (seriously, Kerbin didn't rotate back in the day) and the Mün was merely a circle that floated in the sky.

Then, one day, and quite by accident, the Great Galactic Space Kraken inhaled the both the Sun and the Mün!... and found out it was allergic so it sneezed them back out, but into a 3d form. However, as we all know, sneezes come in threezes (meh, it's a Kerbal saying, just go with it), and thus the Kerbalverse was sprayed with two more mighty spewings of Galactic Krakenmucous, which then coalesced into the planets we have today!

As for explaining the extreme density, well, people have to remember that the Great Galactic Space Kraken also had like a cold or something the week before, and had been eating a lot of dairy because it read this thing on the internet that said yoghurt and cheese was good for you, so the Krakensnot was extra gooey that day.

Well... it's either that, or the Kerbalverse is simply one of the many multiverses that has different constants for weak nuclear forces and such.

Obviously one makes for a better creation myth than the other.

Precisely.

[Brotoro]

BROTORO: Tonight on Kerbal Space Program Forum I'd like to welcome our special guest, Mr. Slartibartfast, who has consented to talk to us this evening about solar system design and construction. Thank you very much for being with us today!

SLARTIBARTFAST: Well, I don't normally do interviews, but when a very important client asked for a representative from the Commercial Council of Magrathea, it happened that I was the only one who'd ever talked to an Earthman, so I got the job. It's all a bit of a bother, really.

BROTORO: A very important client? Who would this very important client be?

SLARTIBARTFAST: I'm sorry, but we do not disclose information about our clients. They are all very wealthy and powerful beings, and I'm sure you'll understand that they enjoy their anonymity. But I will say that you'd never have gotten this interview if the Mice were not very big fans of space travel.

BROTORO: Mice are big fans of space travel?

SLARTIBARTFAST: Certainly. Why else would they have arranged to be some of the first passengers ever flown in a rocket? But I've said more than enough on that subject already.

BROTORO: Ah. OK, let's get right to tonight's topic. Is there any truth to the rumor that Magratheans did the design and construction work for Squad on the Kerbol planetary system?

SLARTIBARTFAST: I've already told you, we don't discuss our clients.

BROTORO: Well then, hypothetically speaking, could you tell us if it's possible to design a solar system with these specifications?

(BROTORO hands Slartibartfast a sheet of paper. Slartibartfast glances over it briefly.)

SLARTIBARTFAST: Ah, yes... Miniature planets are adorable, aren't they? They were all the rage with a certain portion of our clientele.

BROTORO: So it's possible to construct a solar system matching those specifications?

SLARTIBARTFAST: Certainly. We Magratheans pride ourselves on being able to build any kind of planet.

BROTORO: But look at the densities of those planets. Most of them have densities greater than any known element.

SLARTIBARTFAST: That's not a problem. We use black holes.

BROTORO: Black holes? But wouldn't a black hole inside a planet just swallow it?

SLARTIBARTFAST: No, no. We use spherical force field bubbles centered around small black holes. We can adjust the mass of the black hole and radius of the force shell to get any planet density desired, then cover it with the mantle and crust material of the client's choice. It's a very flexible system.

BROTORO: So you're saying that Kerbin is mostly hollow inside, with some old rocky material thrown on top?

SLARTIBARTFAST: No. More like the inner one third is hollow. And I assure you we use only the finest ingredients when building our planets.

BROTORO: Wouldn't these force field bubbles require energy to maintain their structure?

SLARTIBARTFAST: Certainly they require energy. We just allow a small amount of matter from the lower mantle to trickle through openings in the sphere. As the matter falls into the gravity well of the black hole, the energy equivalent to a sizable fraction of its rest mass is released as radiation before it crosses the event horizon. That radiated energy is captured and used by the force field bubble, which also acts as a Dyson sphere.

BROTORO: Dyson sphere? So do Magratheans know about Freeman Dyson?

SLARTIBARTFAST: Who? You misunderstood me. I used the Magrathean term for "spherical mega-structure that captures all radiated energy from a central power source," and that little fish I put in your ear translated the concept into a term you are familiar with. I've never heard of a freemandyson.

BROTORO: Ah, so that's what the fish was for. I thought it was a quaint Magrathean greeting or something.

SLARTIBARTFAST: You're sitting there wearing a digital watch, and you think my people are quaint?

BROTORO: But wait... If Kerbin has no liquid iron core inside, how could it have a magnetic field?

SLARTIBARTFAST: Does Kerbin have a magnetic field?

BROTORO: Um... well, I'm not sure. The developers haven't given us any magnetometers yet, but I just assumed it did.

SLARTIBARTFAST: And it well might. Magnetic fields are easy. We would just need to orbit a ring of charged matter around the black hole inside the force sphere. Adjusting the charge on the matter can give the client any magnetic field desired, and the inclination of the ring can offset the magnetic pole from the rotational axis if desired. Any field strength can be tailored for the client, although it's easier for us if they want a simple dipole. Haven't you wondered why Jool has such a weak magnetic field for a jovian planet?

BROTORO: It does?

SLARTIBARTFAST: Of course. If it didn't, the planet would have powerful radiation belts, and any kerbal you sent in there for aerobraking would be late.

BROTORO: Late?

SLARTIBARTFAST: Yes. As in, "The late Jebediah Kerman." Ah hum.

BROTORO: . . .

SLARTIBARTFAST: I don't understand why Earthmen always stare at me blankly when I use that line.

BROTORO: I'm just wondering how you know about Jebediah Kerman.

SLARTIBARTFAST: It's the Babelfish again. I just used the Magrathean word for "bad-ass space pilot," and the fish did the rest in conjunction with your primitive brain.

BROTORO: Well. What about Kerbol, the sun of the system? How could something with that low of a mass possibly support thermonuclear fusion?

SLARTIBARTFAST: I'm not part of our stellar division... I work on the planets, and I specialize in doing coastlines... but there are two different ways we handle miniature stars.

BROTORO: One way involves black holes?

SLARTIBARTFAST: Both ways do. In one method, we simply make the force sphere around the black hole small enough that the density and pressure in the overlying hydrogen-rich material is sufficient to maintain thermonuclear reactions at the rate needed for the desired luminosity. The second way involves simply letting sufficient matter flow through the force sphere and into the black hole to provide the desired luminosity.

BROTORO: Which method did you use for Kerbol?

SLARTIBARTFAST: I didn't say we made Kerbol. I was speaking hypothetically. Why don't you just measure the neutrino flux coming out of Kerbol... then you could tell if there are fusion reactions going on inside of it.

BROTORO: Well... again... we don't have any neutrino detectors as yet.

SLARTIBARTFAST: You really do need to take more interest in your greater environment. If you're not paying attention to things outside your planet, terrible things could happen to it.

BROTORO: Yes, thank you. But what about Minmus?

SLARTIBARTFAST: What about it?

BROTORO: The developers tell us that it's made of ice, but that can't possibly be the case given its distance from the sun, can it?

SLARTIBARTFAST: Kerbin, like your own planet Earth, is located at a distance from the sun where the equilibrium temperature is below the freezing point of water. If not for their natural greenhouse effects, the oceans on both bodies would be frozen over. The temperature is even lower when you are dealing with a surface that has a very high albedo, like ice, since that reflects away most of the incoming energy.

BROTORO: Yes, yes, I know all that. But Minmus has no atmosphere. Its surface is in vacuum. And water ice would sublime directly into a gas and escape into space at the equilibrium temperature of Minmus. Minmus should be a gigantic comet!

SLARTIBARTFAST: Ah, I see. Young Hargledertfirst of our small moon department solved that problem.

BROTORO: Did he?

SLARTIBARTFAST: She. She engineered a microorganism that was active in the small moon's water during its early warm phases. The organism excretes a clear polymer as a waste product...kind of like a resin. All of the ice on the small moon contains a small percentage of this polymer. When the ice is exposed to vacuum, the water will indeed sublime away, but the polymer is left behind and forms a barrier to further sublimation. And any future impacts or landing rocket flame scars on the surface are self-healing once the vapor clears.

BROTORO: Really? And that's what you did for Minmus?

SLARTIBARTFAST: I was speaking hypothetically.

BROTORO: And I suppose you'll tell me that Eve is purple because of a little food coloring.

SLARTIBARTFAST: Indeed. It takes a very small percentage of certain chemical compounds to give a planetary surface or atmosphere a desired color. You'd be surprised how many clients are upset if they don't get just the right shade of purple or some other color in their skies. We are very good at this, and all the chemical stains and particulates are USDA approved.

BROTORO: You know about the USDA? Oh, wait...it's the Babelfish again, isn't it.

SLARTIBARTFAST: Indeed.

BROTORO: So... if you had to do it all over again, are their any changes you'd make to the Kerbol system?

SLARTIBARTFAST: Well, yes, now that you've asked. I think Kerbin would look much better with more fjords on the coastlines. I always try to put a lot of fjords on a planet, but the managers always say it's too much. A lot of my work got erased. I was quite incensed about that.

BROTORO: Hypothetically speaking, you mean.

SLARTIBARTFAST: Um. Yes. Of course.

BROTORO: Well, our time is up. We really appreciate you coming here today. So long, and thanks for the fish.

SLARTIBARTFAST: No, I'm afraid I must take the Babelfish back with me.

BROTORO: Oh, please? I think it would be very useful *arrgh* Hey!

SLARTIBARTFAST: Flerti slark tilligert sibilas fer torrn. Ser fasto gerhs.

BROTORO: Yeah. Whatever.

Edited February 19, 2016 by Brotoro

[Bill Phil]

Brotoro, that was the single best reference ever MADE.

[CrazyJebGuy]

It is a game. Whacky things happen in games. Have you wondered why in Warthunder, B-17s fall apart if touched by any bullets?

[Random Tank]

So if Jool is Venus, what happened to its surface? The big rock full of magma just got up and disappeared? And the atmosphere got about 6 times thinner? But it's density hardly changed even though all this happened? For this, and other people's reasons, I'm not convinced... This theory has more holes than a colander.

Hey, here's an idea: their system is one that's just very similar to ours, just 10x smaller to make it easier to get around in... But then what about the density? PLOT HOLES.