[quote author=blindpsychic]
E: Perhaps there were atmospheric conditions there that better insulated it, keeping it reasonably close to Earth conditions.
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[quote author=shijing]
That's my best guess too -- if the atmosphere had the right composition of what we think of as 'greenhouse gasses' (primarily water vapor, I would guess) and was able to retain heat more efficiently at night, then that might be part of the explanation. Another possibility might be something along the lines of greater amounts of regular geothermal heat released on the surface. A greater ratio of ocean to landmass might factor in too, but I don't know enough about that to make more than a suggestion.
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Yeah, I also don’t know enough about this kind of thing, but I suppose these are all possibilities.
E: Perhaps there were atmospheric conditions there that better insulated it, keeping it reasonably close to Earth conditions.
[/quote]
[quote author=shijing]
That's my best guess too -- if the atmosphere had the right composition of what we think of as 'greenhouse gasses' (primarily water vapor, I would guess) and was able to retain heat more efficiently at night, then that might be part of the explanation. Another possibility might be something along the lines of greater amounts of regular geothermal heat released on the surface. A greater ratio of ocean to landmass might factor in too, but I don't know enough about that to make more than a suggestion.
[/quote]
mkrnhr said:So another planet, even farther from the sun, with the right atmospheric composition to retain heat, and the right spin velocity to heat sufficiently could be possible at a moderate distance from the sun.
Yeah, I also don’t know enough about this kind of thing, but I suppose these are all possibilities.