.

Pinastri VIII

General Data

*Class: Class J (Gas Giant)

*Type: Planet

*Satellites: One D Class Moon 'Gene'.

*Location: Pinastri Sector, Delta Quadrant

*Star System: Pinastri Star System

*Species of Note:Hydrocarbon-based lifeforms

*Faction Affiliation: United Federation Starfleet

Remarks

Pinastri VIII is an uninhabited Gas Giant that is orbited by one moon.

Planetary Statistics

• classification: Class J
• distance from sun: 6.8 AU
• diameter: 110000 km
• gravity: 12
• atmosphere: extremely dense, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane and 10 trace gases
• weather system: none
• temp.: -230C to -180C
• surface: heavy storms and lightning, ion discharges
• lifeforms: hydrocarbon-based lifeforms
• tech. level: none
• specials: none

History

History of planet

Environmental

Pinastri VIII is approximately 75% hydrogen and 25% helium with traces of other substances like methane and water ice. Pinastri VIII's atmosphere, although similar to Pinastri VII's, is much less interesting to look at from a distance. The bands across which run parallel to the equator much like Pinastri VII's, indicating violent winds. Pinastri VIII is one of the windiest places in the Pinastri System, and wind speeds have been clocked at a staggering 1800 kilometres per hour at the equator. Occasionally, violent 'white' storms break through the cloud layers, each one bigger than Earth. The last of these was observed by the UFS Pinastri/ Delta Quadrant Hubble Space Telescope in 2384. Smaller storms occur as darker spots, and have been shown in recent Cassini-Huygens images. There are three regions in Pinastri VIII's troposhere (the part of the atmosphere where 'weather' occurs) where clouds of a particular kind, or 'cloud decks', are to be found. The location of the clouds is predicted based on the temperature at which vapour will condense into droplets. The point at which condensation occurs, on a temperature profile, is where the clouds ought to be. The temperature in the troposphere ranges from about -130°C to about +80°C. The top visible cloud deck, made of ammonia clouds, is found at about 100 kilometres below the top of the troposhere (tropopause), where the temperature is about -250°C. The second cloud deck, made of ammonium hydrosulphide clouds, is found at about 170 kilometres below the tropopause, where the temperature is -70°C. The lowest cloud deck, made of water clouds, is found at about 130 kilometres below the tropopause, where the temperature is about 0°C (freezing point of water). The hydrogen gas that makes up most of the atmosphere slowly changes to liquid with depth as the pressure increases. Below the liquid hydrogen rests the heavier liquid helium. Deep in the depths of the body of Pinastri VIII, the hydrogen is then under tremendous pressure, and is transformed to liquid metallic hydrogen. It is believed that a rocky core about ten times the mass of the Earth exists at the centre.

Botanical

Info here

Zoological

Info here