I used Pluto (or a pluto-like dwarf planet with no moon) and the sun as examples, and I got about 6881688.874956055 km for L1, which is where the mini sun from my other post would have to go.

If I wanted the insolation from the mini sun to equal the actual sun on Earth, it would have to put out 810 zettawatts. That's a lotta watts.

But we're not talking about Earth. Yih has a solar constant (focal constant?) of arount 860 W/m^2, so we can shave the power output down to about 511 ZW. If we wanted it to equal the insolation at Yih's pole during the summer solstice which is 430 W/m^2, we get 256 ZW. Now that's the equator of our dwarf planet getting that amount of pseudo sun, the poles would get much less.

At this point I have to wonder, why bother with the lagrange point? Surely if I put the thing in LEO any savings on fuel provided by the lagrange point would be more than made up for by the lower power needed to get a reasonable amount of insolation, so we're back to my constellation of close-orbiting satellites. That's not quite as dramatic lore-wise though.

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[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It depends on what space object you want it to be used for. A mini sun doesn't sound like a good enough reason.

A way to give Mars protection from solar wind would be to install a highly magnetic satellite at the Sun-Mars L1 Lagrange point; the wake from that satellite could provide an effective magnetosphere around Mars to keep hydrogen gas in the atmosphere.

A potential way to launch spaceships from Earth would be to install a space elevator through the Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange point; the tip would act as a slingshot throwing ships out of orbit.

Maybe there is a space faring civilization monitoring a less advanced civilization. The best location for a potential base may be at the L3 Lagrange point on the other side of the sun.

[–] early_riser@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

A way to give Mars protection from solar wind would be to install a highly magnetic satellite at the Sun-Mars L1 Lagrange point; the wake from that satellite could provide an effective magnetosphere around Mars to keep hydrogen gas in the atmosphere.

My other post links to an article that says exactly this. After reading it it struck me that a mini sun would generate a magnetosphere and provide light to distant dwarf planets. My conworld isn't rock-hard sci-fi so I may just use my mini sun idea anyway, realistic or not.

These mini suns would be used in the Outer Belt to make dwarf planets habitable. They would be constructed, owned, and managed by the Bright Way during the age of decadence.

"The sun rises on the just and the unjust, provided they pay, of course. These reactors don't operate themselves, you know."