Me again! Realised I left off a part of that ask of many asks (!!!): if a planet is tidally locked to its star but has two other bodies orbiting it, would that affect climates at all? i.e. provide light+heat to the darker side, etc etc? Sorry for so many asks!
You keep asking, we’ll keep answering. :-)In general, orbiting moons wont have an effect on the climate of their primary. The light they reflect from the sun won’t have much effect on the weather. The Moon of Earth is about 1/400000th as bright as the Sun, so the amount of extra energy the Moon dumps into Earth is negligible.What orbiting moons can change is the planet’s ecosystem. The Moon has an incredible effect on Earth’s wildlife through creating tides to making the night much less dark than it would. Many animals have parts of their life cycles influenced by the Moon. Multiple moons might have multiple cycles, with different species tagging off of one moon or the other’s cycle.
Also, a moon can effect the tectonic movement of it’s primaries. Flexing the surface of a planet can cause more and/or stronger earthquakes and volcanoes.
In general, the closer a moon orbits it’s planet and the more massive the moon is, the more effect it will have. Bigger moon effects tectonics and tides, brighter moon effects plants and animals.
