Article on other worlds possible plant colors...interesting

[Chumbly]

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2...ight-be-the-key-to-finding-life-beyond-earth/

just a little "color" for your adventures... 8)

 

[Tobias]

Here is another article on the same topic: With pictures!

http://www.brazosport.edu/sites/CurrentStudents/Faculty/IsaiahSchauer/Biol_1407/LitRev2_Option2_Plants.pdf

Also consider that the color of the sky itself will be different on other worlds:

http://www.xenology.info/Xeno/5.4.2.htm

 

[SSWarlock]

Excellent posts. Thank you.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

I read an article not to long ago that said it was surprising that the colors of the plants on Earth would be more efficient if it was Red and that our plants should be red, not green. So something happened early in the evolution of plants on Earth that made green dominant over red and here we are.

 

[Captain Jonah]

I read an article not to long ago that said it was surprising that the colors of the plants on Earth would be more efficient if it was Red and that our plants should be red, not green. So something happened early in the evolution of plants on Earth that made green dominant over red and here we are.

Green is the mid point between the highly energetic but less common Blue photons and the less energetic but very common Red photons.

Plants gain most energy from blue but under out sunlight most of the light that falls on them is red, three red photons apparently work like one blue one as far as photosynthesis works. Green doesn't have the energy of Blue or the numbers of Red and so is the least efficient under our spectrum hence it is the one that is reflected away by the green leaves.

Under similar spectra of sunlight plants will most likely green as we see. As the Sun goes towards red the plants will head towards the blue/purple end of the spectrum to absorb more of the red and green and reflect the far less common Blue. Likewise going towards the blue end of the light range plants will head towards the red end to maximise Blue absorption though this will happen less due to the greater energy of Blue photons.

Brighter sunlight and the plants will become lighter in colour or glossier to reflect away more, dimmer light and the plants will become matt and darker to absorb the maximum light.

Likewise the colour of the sun will change the colour of the shy as will the exact makeup of the atmosphere. Harmless trace elements that are present on earth in tiny volumes may be far more common on another world and combine with different spectra of sunlight to produce red or green skies. Think how higher levels of dust in the upper atmosphere give us lovely red sunsets or sunrises.

Over time as a star changes it is likely its spectra will change forcing changes on all the plant life on its worlds. A young hot and energetic world may be putting out a harsh light well into the blue end, over a few billion years it cools and moves towards a dimmer red light. Plants evolve with it.