Questions about planetary classes (i.e. M-Class, H Class, etc)

[SpaceLama]

I know there are a couple of different systems out there for planetary classes, such as the one used in Birth of the Federation, and the one from the Star Trek: Star Charts.

But if anyone could clear this up.....

What exactly is a Class H planet? Is it a desert planet, or something else? If it's a desert world, but habitable, what separates desert worlds and oceanic worlds from M-Class?

What does a Class A planet evolve into as it's crust cools? The Star Charts suggest Class C (eventually), but does it evolve into classes M/O/P/N/H, etc, first?

 

[Timo]

We have partial but diverse definitions for the lettered classes in episode dialogue. These would actually be in conflict with each other if we took each to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth (say, Class L being all sorts of very different worlds in different episodes of Trek), but can be accepted if what we see and hear is just part of the truth (say, the Star Charts concept that Class L means a planet is simply slightly "less optimal" for human life than Class M, no matter the exact nature of the shortcomings).

Since a small asteroid (ST2) and a vast gas giant (VOY "Emanations") can be Class D, it might be best to simply abandon any pretense of the Class corresponding to specific conditions and characteristics, and stick with it being "less optimal" to varying degrees: Class L or N is slightly bad, Class A or Y is horribly bad, and it's a continuum in between.

If we don't go by that logic, there's no other obvious logic available. So the best we can do is stick with what's told. But little or nothing is told about Class H. Star Charts is strictly noncanon whenever it ventures beyond what the episodes say, so expanding on the speculation there is doubly free of constraints. The idea that planets evolve from class to class is a good one, and similar to what the letter classes of stars do in the real world - so even if it isn't explicit in the Charts, we can go by that and decide that UFP science has discovered how planets do evolve in such a manner.

Or perhaps devolve, so that Class M is fairly common thanks to ancient terraforming, but that terraforming decays via a couple of well-known steps that give rise to the letter classification system?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[INACTIVEUSS Einstein]

I like your speculation about terraforming at the end - the T'Kon or Iconians, or some other unknown ancient group, may have left terraformed planets untended after their collapse, producing a prodigious amount of near-M-class.

 

[Timo]

It's sort of inevitable over the long term: if one group manages to rise to galactic prominence, it will terraform to its liking - and then any later groups that thrive in terraformed environments will have an advantage, a shot of their own at prominence, and a motivation to further terraform. Eventually, this will promote a monoculture across the galaxy...

...At least in Star Trek where effortless FTL travel means the various segments of a galactic empire will remain in close contact and won't evolve in their own directions, not just culturally but biologically as well.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Nerys Myk]

If it's a desert world, but habitable, what separates desert worlds and oceanic worlds from M-Class?

Desert worlds and oceanic worlds can be class M. Vulcan is a desert world and Class M. I assume Andor is also Class M even though its very cold. Earth in more water than land and is Class M.

 

[INACTIVEUSS Einstein]

I think he meant, what makes a class H desert planet, or class P or class O, not M-class?

Because they are all habitable, and like you say, M class may cover ice/desert/etc.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I think he meant, what makes a class H desert planet, or class P or class O, not M-class?

Because they are all habitable, and like you say, M class may cover ice/desert/etc.

Well, a desert planet without a breathable atmosphere wouldn't be Class M. M pretty much means okay for habitation by humanoids like Terrans, Vulcans, Andorians ect.

 

[Timo]

The thing that stands out in the Star Charts definition of Class H is that life on such worlds is expected to be radiation-resistant. This sounds like a rather exceptional characteristic among the world types listed; perhaps Class H is primarily defined by the presence of radiation deadly for those lifeforms that generally thrive in Class M environments, and Class H being arid and desert-like is a consequence of the harsh radiation conditions, rather than an independent characteristic.

The canonical example world listed, Tau Cygna V, had human-breathable air, was somewhat arid (the best spot the colonists could find required a complex irrigation system), and indeed was bathed in deadly radiation. In terms of the "M stands for Middle" model, the qualities would make the place potentially exploitable but less attractive than the Class I, J, K and L worlds described - I and J would have more useful mineables, K could be inhabited with less effort, and L could be colonized by girl scouts beamed down with nothing but their backpacks (although censors probably would insist on uniforms as well, alas).

Timo Saloniemi

 

[INACTIVEUSS Einstein]

Then the question arises what makes a class O or class P planet not M-class, considering Earth's large oceans, and previous glaciation during the ice age?

 

[Captain Rob]

So I guess that Mars would be class H. A desert planet with a thin atmosphere and no magnetic field. allowing the constant bombardment of cosmic rays and solar particles.

 

[Timo]

Then the question arises what makes a class O or class P planet not M-class, considering Earth's large oceans, and previous glaciation during the ice age?

Supposedly, Earth would have been Class O during the more extreme ice ages, and perhaps Class P on occasion. Those are worlds habitable and exploitable by humans, just poorer ones compared to Class L and N, let alone the Goldilocks Class M: the ice and the lack of arable soil are downsides that slide those worlds down the scale away from M.

So I guess that Mars would be class H. A desert planet with a thin atmosphere and no magnetic field. allowing the constant bombardment of cosmic rays and solar particles.

But one can colonize Mars by erecting a couple of domes. Supposedly, Berthold rays, hyperonic radiation and the like wouldn't be so easily defeated.

OTOH, we have the onscreen definition of Class K that appears smack on: domes and life support systems are a must for letting humans live on Mars. Supposedly, these requirements are a bit less stringent than anti-radiation armor; perhaps Mars in the Trek eras is also partially terraformed (c.f. the comet-crashing project from "Demons") and similar to the Mars of Babylon 5, allowing humans to dwell on the surface using just SCOBA gear for outdoor activities...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[INACTIVEUSS Einstein]

So I guess that Mars would be class H. A desert planet with a thin atmosphere and no magnetic field. allowing the constant bombardment of cosmic rays and solar particles.

Actually it's usually identified as class K - which seems to mean "adaptable, through domes, etc".

@Timo & @Captain Rob -

If radiation (either from cosmic rays or fissile elements in the crust) is indeed a defining trait of class H worlds, is there a separate category for desert planets, like in other systems of classification, like the one from Star Trek: Birth of the Federation? Or maybe they are just class L - barren/near habitable.

 

[INACTIVEUSS Einstein]

Supposedly, Earth would have been Class O during the more extreme ice ages, and perhaps Class P on occasion. Those are worlds habitable and exploitable by humans, just poorer ones compared to Class L and N, let alone the Goldilocks Class M: the ice and the lack of arable soil are downsides that slide those worlds down the scale away from M.

It seems that class O and P could even be described as sub-classes of class M.

 

[Drone]

Supposedly, Earth would have been Class O during the more extreme ice ages, and perhaps Class P on occasion. Those are worlds habitable and exploitable by humans, just poorer ones compared to Class L and N, let alone the Goldilocks Class M: the ice and the lack of arable soil are downsides that slide those worlds down the scale away from M.

But one can colonize Mars by erecting a couple of domes. Supposedly, Berthold rays, hyperonic radiation and the like wouldn't be so easily defeated.

OTOH, we have the onscreen definition of Class K that appears smack on: domes and life support systems are a must for letting humans live on Mars. Supposedly, these requirements are a bit less stringent than anti-radiation armor; perhaps Mars in the Trek eras is also partially terraformed (c.f. the comet-crashing project from "Demons") and similar to the Mars of Babylon 5, allowing humans to dwell on the surface using just SCOBA gear for outdoor activities...

Timo Saloniemi

As you referenced it, and it hasn't been discussed in the thread otherwise, where does Omicron Ceti III fit in? Certainly not desert like, as we saw it, but otherwise suited to be classified as Class H?

 

[HIjol]

Maybe it has been mentioned I. Other discussion ( due credit if it has) but my foray into definitions and classifications has yielded that the "M" class designation actually comes from the Vulcan word "Minshara.", that actually means "Mentally Defective" (Memory Alpha). It is surmised that it is an example of Vucan "humor".

I was confused by this:

"If we are following the Star Charts here (which seems to be the case so far), Vulcan falls in this category (see p.26), simply because only M, O and P are defined by having humanoid life...Vulcan probably borders on Class L... -- Cid Highwind 16:53, 22 Dec 2003 (PST) (Memory Alpha entry)


So are we to believe that Omicron Ceti III was a potential M class, regardless of the Berthold Rays?

And this:


"In the Federation standard system of planetary classification, a class H planet was characterized as usually being uninhabitable by Humans. In the Treaty of Armens, "unwanted lifeforms inhabiting H-class worlds may be removed at the discretion of the Sheliak Corporate." (TNG: "The Ensigns of Command")

An H-class planet or moon could contain an atmosphere consisting of oxygen and argon. (VOY: "Scorpion, Part II") (Memory Alpha)

M or H Class???

 

[Timo]

In the model where M is great for humans and letters distant from M are less so, we cannot accept that any single parameter would define the class of a world. A lush paradise that has deadly radiation must get bumped down to H or lower, while an arid and geologically active hellhole with a nice atmosphere must be elevated to L or N - but if the place is both radiation-ridden and geologically active, it gets banished to something like Class F.

Perhaps the Star Charts descriptions are just common examples of a balance of factors that can result in the indicated class? Perhaps it is statistically typical for Class H worlds to have the combination of radiation+arid, rather than poisonous atmosphere+lush, even though quite a few Class H worlds are of the latter type?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[SpaceLama]

Thanks for the answers everyone! Interesting discussion.