Yang Meng thought about it again and again,

Still didn't make the decision to let the spacecraft leave first, and take the landing return capsule to the planet Ross 128b,

The environment of the Ross 128 galaxy is completely different from that of Nanhe III.

If he breaks away from the Infinite Orient, whether it is him or the ship he is on, the risks he will face will be difficult to control.

"Although it takes time, in order to reduce the risk, we can only use the way of detouring to enter!"

Thinking of this, Yang Meng and Xiao Yin discussed a new orbit plan,

At this time, the spacecraft still has a certain speed,

He plans to use the gravitational pull of Ross 128 to orbit the other side of Ross 128 and then approach Ross 128b.

When Xiao Yin calculates the time required for the detailed route,

Yang Meng silently compared,

Compared to venturing directly to Planet B,

Such a plan takes about half a month longer than the separation trip.

However, such a time is also within Yang Meng's acceptable range.

After all, the Ross 128 galaxy is a very small galaxy.

Planet b is only 0.05 AU from its parent star,

Such a distance is unimaginable in the solar system,

To know that the average distance between Mercury and the Sun is about 0.4 astronomical units,

If Ross 128b is placed in the solar system at such a distance,

In such a position, it is almost possible to reach the ears, and in this position, Planet B will be torn apart by the Sun in an instant, or swallowed by the Sun.

And Ross 128b can be so close to his main-sequence star,

Or is it because of the level of the stars,

If the sun is like a blazing bonfire, you can feel its scorching temperature when you get closer.

The Ross 128 galaxy is a lit candle,

Only by reaching over can you feel a little warmth.

It is precisely because of this gap that Yang Meng dared to let the spacecraft get close to the stars in the Ross 128 galaxy

"Speaking of which, the last time I was in the Rutan Galaxy, I couldn't get a close look at the red dwarf, but this time it's a chance......"

After the spaceship has set its course,

Continuing deeper into the Ross 128 galaxy,

And the advance exploration satellite sent before is also continuously transmitting data back from the Ross 128 galaxy.

With the assistance of the advance probe plus the spacecraft's detection device,

also unveiled the mystery of the Ross 128 galaxy,

At a distance of 128 from the Ross galaxy 2.1 AU,

Yang Meng observed the first planet in this galaxy,

According to the naming convention of extraterrestrial planets, this planet is known as Ross 128J

This planet is not large, its mass is only slightly smaller than that of Pluto,

Because it's so far from the stars, this planet is quite dark.

If it weren't for the fact that the probe had already entered this galaxy, as long as it was a little farther away, I am afraid that it would not be possible to see Planet J clearly.

As for the boundary planets far away from the stars, Yang Meng does not pay much attention.

Whether it's the solar system, or the Rutan system,

In a stable single-star system, most of these planets are dominated by water ice structures.

Its cold environment, for human beings, has no value for immigration and biological exploration,

But it was this planet that made Yang Meng see a very peculiar point.

"According to the analysis of the infrared spectrometer, this planet actually has a thick atmospheric structure!"

Seeing the results analyzed by Xiao Yin according to the detection information,

A look of surprise appeared on Yang Meng's face,

The marshmallow star he encountered before could have a thick atmospheric structure, which was already a very accidental thing.

Because Marshmallow is a planet thrown out of a binary star system,

In addition to the fact that its mass is greater than that of the Earth, and the core inside still has a certain temperature,

Under various conditions, the thick atmospheric structure will be retained.

But this J planet, with his knowledge of astronomy,

It's hard to have a thick atmosphere on it,

For a planet,

For carbon-based life similar to Earth's to exist, the structure of the atmosphere is an essential part.

Whether it's resisting stellar winds or providing a water vapor cycle for an entire planet, the atmosphere is an extremely important structure.

But it's not easy to have a thick atmosphere.

First of all, a planet must have a certain mass.

On the basis of a certain gravitational force, the gas molecules can be attracted to the vicinity of the earth's surface, and the gas molecules can be kept under a certain pressure to form a cloud structure.

Secondly, the internal core should remain active and generate a certain magnetic field.

The closer a planet is to the star, the stronger its magnetic field needs to be.

In this way, the ionization of the atmosphere by the stellar wind can be resisted.

The earth is constantly blown by the wind of the sun,

The hydrogen element that makes up the water molecule is extremely susceptible to the impact of charged high-energy particles in the stellar wind.

so that hydrogen and oxygen are separated,

Once the hydrogen element is taken away, the water will not be water,

Fortunately, under the protection of the earth's magnetic field, such a reaction proceeds very slowly.

If there is no magnetic field,

After 4.5 billion years of solar wind blowing on the earth, it is difficult for the water on the surface of the earth to retain its liquid structure.

In addition to these two important factors,

There are many, other factors that also affect the existence of the structure of the planet's atmosphere,

For example, the planet cannot be too close to the star, nor too far away.

"But none of the planets are ...... How can there be an atmospheric structure! ”

Yang Meng looked at the data transmitted by the detector,

A puzzled look appeared on his face,

Planet J is even less massive than Pluto, and its gravitational pull cannot adsorb too many gas molecules.

Secondly, the magnetic field of Planet J is extremely weak,

Although it is far away from the stars, it will still be affected by the stellar wind.

"It stands to reason that there should be no atmospheric structure on such a planet!"

"With such a strange planet, maybe a probe should be sent to take a look."

Just when Yang Meng was planning to send a probe to this planet,

New data from the advance probe interrupted his plans.

The probe has detected another planet,

The planets detected this time, in order, are the fifth farthest planet from the star in this galaxy, that is, planet G

Planet g is about 1.3 AU from the star,

At this distance, this planet, like the structure of the solar system, appeared giant planets,

The mass of this planet is about 9 times that of Earth.

There is an extremely thick atmospheric structure on it, and for such a structure, Yang Meng did not show any surprised expression.

A star of this mass is already close to a gas giant.

It's normal to have a thick layer of air on it.

It's a strange thing if there is no such atmospheric structure.

And what really surprised Yang Meng was that

The satellite system of this giant planet,

According to the data transmitted back by the advance probe,

This planet has an extremely complex system of moons,

It has more satellites than Saturn, and among these moons, there are more than 13 satellites that can maintain hydrostatic equilibrium.

That is, in this satellite system, there are 13 satellites that can maintain the shape of a sphere,

So many spherical satellites,

It's also a wonder to be in the solar system,

And what surprised Yang Meng even more was that among the thirteen satellites,

There are eight satellites with thick atmospheric structures.

"It's not normal!"

Seeing such detection results, Yang Meng immediately stopped his plan to launch a detection satellite to Planet J.

In the entire solar system, there are about 180 natural satellites of each planet.

But in these satellites,

Almost all satellites have only a very small and difficult to detect atmospheric structure.

And only the moon of Titan has a thick atmosphere,

And out of so many satellites, only one satellite has a thick atmosphere,

As you can imagine, it is difficult for a planet's satellite system to have a thick atmosphere.

And here he saw so many moons with atmospheric structures at once, which in itself is an incomprehensible thing,

"What additional factors influence the formation of the planet's atmospheric structure?"

Yang Meng looked at the data transmitted by the detector and pondered something,

Titan can have a thick atmospheric structure,

It's because he's the second largest moon in the solar system,

In terms of volume, Titan's size can even be compared to Mercury,

But the mass of Titan is slightly smaller, which makes Titan's magnetic field protection much smaller than that of Earth.

But near him, there is a huge magnetic field of Saturn, which is the boss of Titan,

Coupled with the fact that Titan is far away from the solar system, Saturn's tidal action will heat Titan's core......

Under various conditions,

This makes Titan the only rocky planet in the entire solar system other than Earth to have a "liquid" ocean.

however

Yang Meng looked at the detection data of Planet G,

found that the magnetic field of this giant planet is far from enough to cover all the moons.

Some of his moons are also very small and shouldn't have an atmosphere.

"What is the reason for this anomaly?"

After Yang Meng pondered for a few seconds, his eyes lit up, and he easily thought of something:

"That's right! It's a period of heavy bombing."

"This galaxy is in a period of heavy bombardment!"

"So it's a meteorite that affects the structure of the atmosphere!"

Meteorites for a planet,

Its influence can be said to be devastating,

The earth has been affected by meteorites, such as the extinction of the dinosaurs.

There are still many debates about the specific reasons for the extinction of dinosaurs.

But most scientific researchers have basically agreed with the meteorite extinction theory.

After geological exploration, as well as paleontological research,

Human beings have found that if a meteorite hits a planet and affects the structure of the earth's crust, then the impact of the meteorite will have a terrible chain reaction.

The shock wave and destructive force generated by the impact of the meteorite itself may make life extinct on a continent.

But for creatures that live on the other side of the impact point,

Whether it is the shock wave caused by the impact,

Or the tsunami caused by the impact, the impact on these creatures is not great.

What really triggers the crisis is the dust material that appears after the impact.

and asteroids of a certain mass, volcanic eruptions caused by the crust of the earth, which caused a large amount of dust material to enter the atmosphere, thus triggering a series of secondary disasters

Scientists can't be sure how long the dust that wiped out the dinosaurs in the first place has been on Earth, and what kind of climate upheaval it has caused.

But one thing is certain,

In the event of a large-scale volcanic eruption, volcanic ash can have a huge impact on the ecology of the earth.

As in 1815,

The volcanic ash erupted from Mount Tambora in Indonesia caused abnormal global temperatures,

According to meteorological records, in the first year after the eruption,

Droughts, floods, extreme cold, extreme heat, the frequency and timing of occurrences are very abnormal,

And after the second year of the volcano, because of the spread of dust and materials,

Detailed meteorological records showed that the average global temperature dropped by 0.4C to 0.7C that year,

In some places with higher latitudes, there is even a long "year without summer",

And that's just the impact of a large volcanic eruption.

If a large meteorite hits the ground, how many volcanoes can be activated, how much dust and greenhouse gases will be released, and how much impact will it have on the overall environment of the earth?

If you imagine it, you can deduce what happened to the dinosaurs.

"So the appearance of thick atmosphere on these planets is due to the influence of meteorites?"

Thinking of this, Yang Meng told Xiao Yin his thoughts,

And after Xiao Yin's analysis, it also confirmed the possibility of Yang Meng's idea,

"The atmospheric structure that exists on such a celestial body is likely to be ephemeral, and over time these dust clouds will eventually dissipate!"

Coming to such a conclusion, Yang Meng also lost the idea of sending probes to these planets,

His current target is only the planet Ross 128b,

The planet that is similar in size to Earth and is in the habitable zone.

But thinking about the situation that exists on these satellite celestial bodies,

Yang Meng has a pessimistic attitude towards the situation of Planet B.

Although the heavy bombing period may be the starting point of life on a habitable planet,

All kinds of alien celestial bodies will also bring opportunities to this planet,

But if there are too many such opportunities, it is not a good thing!

"I don't know what's going on on Planet B, and if she really went to Planet B......"

At this moment, Xiao Yin's voice came from his ears:

"Attention, the first meteorite dense zone is about to be crossed!"

Hearing such a prompt, Yang Meng nodded silently and looked at the porthole.

I don't know when, Xiaoguang also floated over, and looked out the window with Yang Meng:

"What's that?" Xiaoguang seemed to see something, and said with a flicker.

Hearing the voice of the little light, he looked out the porthole into the deep sky,

With the naked eye, the cosmic space in front of him, just like the cosmic space he had sailed before, was very empty, and there were no large objects.

And Yang Meng is also well aware of the limitations of the human eye,

is preparing to pass through Xiao Yin, changing a way of observation,

But at this moment, he saw some faint points of light outside the porthole,

"That's ......"

If you are a first-time person in space, you may think that some alien civilization is approaching him with a lamp.

But as an experienced old astronaut, he knows very well that these faint points of light,

It's probably a meteorite object scurrying around in this galaxy.

And before he could touch the meteorite object in front of him, he remembered the prompt sound of Xiaoguang in his ears:

"Note that the spacecraft is being hit by a micrometeor object and is calculating losses,

Depending on the angle of impact, the course is being adjusted! ”

Seeing that the asteroid had not yet been encountered, it was hit by tiny debris particles, Yang Meng stared closely at the data on the spacecraft,

And as the course adjusted, the faint flicker gradually disappeared......