ThomasJoined: January 30, 2007Status: OfflinePosts: 94Rep:
Could this be Planet Dune? Thu Feb 22, 2007 11:24:42 PM#34472Perm Link
Two extra-solar gas giant planets show no evidence of water in their atmosphere. One can’t help but think of Frank Herbert’s planet Arrakis in his space epic Dune.
I am aware that they are gas giants, and it's obvious that their size and gravitational mass are the reason they are more readily detectable. They would also be very unlikely to harbour life.
I was merely seeing the 'poetic' aspect of this discovery.
Let's hope now that we'll find "Caladan". The main problem remains how we could reach them, though. Maybe we'll have soon the gravitational drive of the "Event Horizon" and we'll be able to hop to different points in the universe.
IIRC it only takes ~200 years for a planet infested with them to become dune like, and a bit longer for all surface water to be hidden completely. IIRC Dune isn't found for another 2k years and even then it's settled by the zensunnis, people (read as: Guild, Bene Gesserit, etc) don't discover the spice until around 10,000 years from now. 200 BG or so.