How many hours of sleep would we need on each of the planet in the solar system?
In some space travel films,
it is shown that the trips are so long that most of the time the crew spends sleeping,
or rather, hibernating, so as not to spend energy while they arrive at their destination.
But in real life, is it possible to hibernate for so long? And if possible, how many hours would we
need to sleep on each planet? Get ready to discover it!
Before embarking on our journey through each of the solar system planets, we must clarify a doubt.
Why do we need to sleep? Sleep is a basic need of
all animals. In the case of humans, we need to sleep at least 8 hours each terrestrial day.
However, not all animals sleep the same number of hours. For example,
a sloth bear can sleep up to 20 hours a day, a grizzly bear can hibernate for 200 long days,
and ants sleep only a few seconds every so often. Each animal sleeps a certain amount of time
that adjusts to its needs and the environment in which it has developed.
We, humans, need to sleep only 8 hours since we are diurnal animals; that is, we take advantage of
the sunlight to perform our activities and sleep during the night; that is why we are not able
to see anything in the dark, because our eyes are suitable to see in the day, not at night.
That said, let's begin our journey through the solar system's planets.
Mercury We begin our journey on Mercury, the
planet's most minor and the closest to the sun. Mercury is a planet with very extreme climatic
conditions; its temperature varies greatly and depends directly on how much sunlight it receives;
for example, the areas that are under the sun's rays can reach 430 ºC,
while the areas that are in the shade or at night have temperatures of -180 ºC, because of this, if
we wanted to spend a relaxing holiday on Mercury we would necessarily have to do it underground.
It is likely that, in the future, when humanity has colonized the solar system,
due to the extreme conditions of the mercury surface, we will need to build shelters
underground, just as some insects such as ants do. In this case, we could enjoy an unparalleled
sunset where the sun seems never to set since, in Mercury, a day lasts 58 Earth days.
This abrupt change in the length of days would cause the human race to adapt to the
new environment after a long time, and our biological clock would change drastically.
After many generations, humans living on Mercury would no longer need to sleep just 8 hours
like here on earth, but about a whole month. Obviously, in this video, we are considering
the number of hours of sleep, assuming that, in the future, when we have colonized the
entire solar system, the human race adapts its biological clock to the solar day of each planet.
It is also necessary to consider that the hours of sleep depend on
each planet's gravity; the more significant the difference in gravity with the earth,
the more difficult it will be to adapt to the planet,
and therefore more hours of sleep will be needed. In this way, if on earth we sleep only 8
hours in a 24-hour day, on Mercury, a planet whose solar day lasts 58 days
and has a gravity lower than the earth, we would need to sleep approximately 28.5 Earth days.
Remember that a solar day is a time it takes for each planet to take a complete turn on itself.
Venus We leave behind the minor planet
and move on to the hottest planet, Venus. This planet is the most hostile in the solar system;
it has an atmosphere with powerful winds and gases lethal to any life form.
It is a hell in which no living being could be for a second;
because of this, likely, we will not be able to establish bases on the surface of this planet,
so if future expeditions are made to this planet, they will probably be for short periods.
The way we could visit Venus may be aboard airships; there is a proposal in which we
could use Venus's dense and heavy atmosphere to move with airships filled with gas much
lighter than the planet's clouds, such as Helium or even Hydrogen.
These airships would be gigantic and would remain floating in the clouds of Venus indefinitely;
they would not need engines or propellers since the same clouds of Venus would always keep them
above the lethal toxic atmosphere for humans. Venus is the planet with the longest day of all;
in fact, not only is it the planet with the longest day, but it is the only planet
where a day lasts longer than a year. On Venus, a day lasts 243 earth days,
but a year lasts 225 earth days. In other words, Venus takes longer to make a turn on itself
than it does to make a complete turn on the sun. In one of the past videos, we talked in much
more detail about how long a day lasts on each solar planet; we recommend it.
An interesting fact is that the atmosphere of Venus goes around the entire planet in about 4
Earth days. That is, the atmosphere moves much faster than the planet.
For that reason, it was previously thought that the days of Venus lasted four days since the
photographs we took from the earth only showed the outer clouds of Venus, not it's surface.
Because of this, if our stay on Venus were in an airship that always keeps floating in the clouds,
it would move at the same speed as the clouds; that is,
a floating hotel on Venus would take approximately four days to circle the planet entirely.
In other words, instead of waiting for Venus to turn on itself,
we would be the ones who would give a complete return to the planet in 4 Earth days.
Thus, if the human race adapts its biological clock to this cycle,
we would need to sleep approximately 30 hours in a row for each turn around Venus.
Mars Things would
be much simpler for settlements on the red planet since a day on Mars lasts almost the
same as on earth, 24 hours and 40 minutes. The only problem would be that those who
settle on Mars will struggle to adapt to gravity since it is much weaker on Mars than on earth.
In this way, those who settle on Mars must sleep between 8 and 9 hours for each Martian day,
nothing strange. Do you know any person who already sleeps that amount of hours?
Talk to him; maybe he is an excellent candidate to go to Mars.
Jupiter We arrived at the
largest planet of all, the gas giant Jupiter. From here, things will get tough for humans.
This planet presents extreme conditions since it is a gaseous planet, which means it does not
have a solid surface like the earth. Jupiter belongs to the gas giants,
planets that are made mainly of gas. That is to say, establishing a base on those planets
is impossible. The only way we could settle permanently would be similar to the one proposed
on Venus, with airships floating on its clouds. Perhaps in the distant future,
the human race will develop vast and complex floating space hotels with airships filled
with a very light gas capable of floating on the dense and heavy clouds of the gaseous planets and
hosting human beings for an indefinite time. These floating space hotels would be the
only way to settle permanently on these surfaceless planets.
As in Venus, in Jupiter, the clouds move very fast. Jupiter is the planet with the
shortest day of all. A day on Jupiter lasts only 9 hours with 55 minutes.
We must also consider that the gravity of Jupiter is overwhelming,
so it would be a physical challenge to adapt to extended stays on that planet without suffering
irreversible damage to our bodies. At the very least, the effort to adapt
would be rewarded with the beautiful views we would have of the tornadoes and hurricanes
that would pass under the floating hotel, as well as the incredible views of all the moons
on the planet that would rise one after another on the horizon of the night sky.
If, after many centuries, the human race adapts to Jupiter's crushing gravity and short days,
they would only need to sleep 2 hours a day because the days last just under 10 hours.
Jupiter also has very important moons such as Ganymede, Europa, or Callisto.
On these moons, it would also be possible to establish human bases; in fact, it would be much
easier to establish them on the natural satellites of the gaseous planets than on the planets.
Would you like to know how long we would need to sleep on the most important moons
of each gaseous planet? Then give a like to this video, ring the notification bell
and leave us your valuable comment to know if you would like us to make that video.
Saturn Saturn, like Jupiter,
is characterized by being a gas giant, only this one does not have such strong gravity,
and it would not cost us so much work to adapt. As in Jupiter, in Saturn, the days are also very
short, lasting only 10 hours with 33 minutes. Because of this, as your common sense tells you,
the number of hours we would have to sleep on Saturn would be very similar
to the number of hours we should rest on Jupiter, between 2 and 3 hours approximately.
On Saturn, things would be quieter because the winds are not as strong as on Jupiter,
and the views we would have of the asteroid rings would be impressive, something unique and
wonderful throughout the solar system. Uranus
Approaching the limits of the solar system, we reach Uranus, the most inclined planet of all;
here something extraordinary would happen, and that is that this planet has an
axis of inclination of 91 degrees concerning the rest of the planets.
That is to say that if we looked at the solar system from the north pole,
it would seem that Uranus is lying down; this phenomenon would cause a floating hotel on
the clouds of the planet would not present changes in its days and nights for years.
This is because when the solstices of Uranus approach, one pole looks continuously in
the direction of the Sun while the other is in the opposite direction.
Only a narrow band around the equator experiences a rapid day and night cycle,
but with the Sun very low above the horizon as in the Earth's polar regions.
This causes each pole of Uranus to receive about 42 years of uninterrupted sunlight,
followed by 42 years of darkness. Approximately 84 years to watch a sunrise and sunset.
Unlike the rest of the planets, where the days and nights pass with some regularity,
in Neptune, our biological clock could not adapt to the planet's cycles since
its cycles last longer than human life. For all this, it is most likely that if,
in the future, the human race manages to establish itself on this planet
as on the others, our sleep cycles will adjust concerning that of the Earth. In other words,
on Uranus, we would sleep precisely the same hours that we slept on Earth, about 8 hours.
Neptune We arrive
at the last planet in the solar system, Neptune, the blue planet.
Like the other gaseous planets on Neptune, we would also be established in floating bases.
On this planet, a day lasts 16 hours. If the human race adapts its biological clock with time,
it would be enough for us to sleep between 4 and 5 hours for each day of Neptune.
On this planet, there is only one factor that could spoil all this:
Neptune has the most intense winds in the entire Solar System, with gusts reaching 2,000 km / h.
If one of the floating bases were hit by these powerful winds, it would go to pieces,
so we would have to find a way to prevent that from happening.
What do you think of this tour of the solar system?
Would you like to know how many hours of sleep we need on the dwarf planets or the
more important moons in the solar system?
Let us know your opinion with your valuable comment.