The Doctor , the eponymic asterisk of Doctor Who , does n’t visit her homeworld very often . This is n’t just because the Time Lords are an hotheaded crew ; after consulting with several Who - ghost scientist , it ’s clear-cut that Gallifrey is less like the strangely habitableplanets of Star Warsand more like the worst place in the universe of discourse to live .
Gallifrey made its first appearance in 1969 , but has for the most part stay an off - blind presence . Since the start of the New era of the show , the Doctor ’s homeworld has been seen in flashback . It was long conceive to have been destroyed , although it has latterly transpired – despoiler alert – that it in factsurvivedthe Last groovy Time War between the Daleks and the Time Lords .
So , what do we know about this occult world ?
Based on a side - by - side comparison with our own planet seen during one recentepisode , Gallifrey appear to be a sizeable rocky satellite . If it ’s similar to or around twice the sizing of Earth , it ’s probably kick the bucket to have interchangeable geologic innards , include a metal core , a churning blanket , and a impudence , Fred Calef , a geoscientist and Mars expert at NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory , explained to Earther .
If it ’s between 1.5 and two times the radius of Earth , then it may be more mysterious . Yayaati Chachan , a alumnus student of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology , told Earther there ’s a dearth of observed exoplanets in this range , meaning we ca n’t be altogether sure what ’s on the interior .
But if Gallifrey is more massive than Earth , “ the increased gravitation can retain smaller , ‘ faster ’ molecule , ” perhaps hydrogen and helium , according to Calef . An aura with heavy molecules in it would also mean that incoming starlight would scatter differently . In this cause , it may upchuck a flushed hue over everything , matching the burnt orangeness sky we see in the TV show .
Speaking of starlight , Gallifrey and its neighboring planets orbit two star – a binary organisation a mo likeKepler-47 , an exoplanet describe in 2012 . In an audiobook , one of Gallifrey ’s suns was said to belarge and red , but the other is n’t directly alluded to .
take up that large ruby maven is n’t just extremely close to the planet , it could be a red giant nearing the end of its life . What of the other ? For clues , we can look to the major planet ’s flora .
The 10th Doctor cite trees withsilver leaf . Lillian Ostrach , a research physical scientist at the US Geological Survey ’s Astrogeology Science Center , tell apart Earther the silver color could come from the absorption of strange metals from Gallifrey ’s grease . It could also have in mind that those plant acquire to engross a dissimilar type of solar actinotherapy than Earth ’s greenish plants do .
Rose Ferreira , a science communicator and student of space biophysics at Empire State College , suggested that silver leaves might soak up infrared light for photosynthesis while reflecting in the ultraviolet light . That could mean the other maven in the system is a blood-red midget , which are known to emitplenty of infrared radiationin general , while blasting out UV through solar flare .
On the positive side , this type of red giant - red dwarf binary star scheme can survive ; one wasspotted in 2010 . lamentably , a violent dwarf could prove to be baffling for life , as its high - get-up-and-go solar flares mightstrip awaya planet ’s life - sustaining atmosphere .
Beyond their silver hue , the plant on Gallifrey ’s surface puzzle another mystery : The planet does n’t seem to have any surface body of water . That makes it probable that it ’s extremely hot on Gallifrey . Without a immense C sink like Earth ’s oceans , it ’s likely carbon dioxide would just pile up in the atmosphere leading toVenus - stylerunaway global warming .
The better news about Gallifrey ’s atmosphere is that it ’s probably – perhaps thanks to its weird plant – oxygen - based , something we can accept based on the fact that Time Lords are , as Ostrach put it , “ quite similar ” to humans in term of bod and physiology . The surface geology is also rust fungus - colourise , indicate volcanic John Rock whose iron is chemically react with the free atomic number 8 in the strain .
What else do we fuck about this hellish hothouse ? Well , if it is revolve a carmine giant , Gallifrey may be an specially old domain . ruddy giants are stars at theend of their livesthat are billions of twelvemonth old .
Bruce Macintosh , a physics prof and exoplanet researcher at Stanford University , suspects Gallifrey formed in the other day of the population . If that ’s true , it could hold mickle of rude , weak elements , like hydrogen , oxygen , atomic number 6 and some silicates , resulting in a satellite with a thin , rocky shield , and layers of icing and diamond further down . Perhaps , Macintosh said , the planet ’s notoriously bright mountains are rich in infield , a surface manifestation of a carbon - rich interior .
This other universe hypothesis means that Gallifrey would n’t have much iron , as stars would n’t have been able-bodied toproduce much of ityet . This does n’t quite tally up with the rusty - expect rocks at the surface , but maybe the Mars - color landscape owes its world to a huge space - borne deliver of iron when , afterwards in its timeline , it wasbombardedby branding iron - rich meteorite .
Between red-hot , parched stipulation and a potentially devastating menstruum of asteroid bombardment , it seems Gallifrey wo n’t become a popular novel tourist destination anytime shortly . But in case you ’re not entirely convinced to last out the hellhole away , here ’s one last bit of fun trivia .
We live that Gallifrey is – or at least was before it wasshifted off to a pocket universein 2013 – turn up near the center of its galaxy , and that galactic centre hold supermassive black holes . Harriet Brettle , a graduate student of planetary sciences at the California Institute of Technology , suggested that if the system is extremely close to the black hole , this might cause time to run easy for Gallifreyans compare to those farther from the galactic core thanks tothe quirks of general relativity theory . A sojourn to Gallifrey , then , could intend that you would render to Earth to see that your Quaker and family of a sudden much erstwhile .
Then again , if Gallifrey is close enough to a mordant hole for this kind of relativistic effect to complain in , it ’s not justwibbly wobbly timey wimeyissues you have to be bear on about . accord to Macintosh , extremely up-and-coming material being flung off a black hole could “ blow away a planet ’s atmosphere . ”
Sorry , Doctor . You may be brilliant , but your planet is terrible .
chastening : An earlier reading of this post stated that if Gallifrey was between 1.5 and two times the mass of the Earth its interior could be more secret . We should have say 1.5 to 2 times the spoke of the Earth . The text has been updated and Earther notes the irony of a scientific error in an clause about a fantastical planet .
Dr. Who
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