Is the sun in the north?

[Sokotra]

Uhm, yeah, it would depend on where you were at.  If you are east of part of the grey forest then the sun could set over the grey forest and still be to the west.  There are lots of trees and stuff (part of the grey forest) directly west of Tuluk - so for someone in Tuluk or around that area to get that coded echo would still accurately depict the sun setting to the west.  Sure, the biggest part of the grey forest is to the northwest, but that doesn't mean that the sun is setting directly over the center of the grey forest... heh... kind of a weird mis-perception or something.

[solera]

Another ambiguous echo.  I think it was seen from inside Luirs.

Code Select Expand


Jihae sets with a last gleam of red across the outpost's north wall.


[Zoan]

WMG: The Known is on a tectonic plate that basically slowly revolves at a constant rate. Nobody notices because they don't have lodestones.

[Molten Heart]

WMG: The Known is on a tectonic plate that basically slowly revolves at a constant rate. Nobody notices because they don't have lodestones.

Thanks for necroing a thread that Angela Christine posted in.

[long live miley cyrus]

I wonder how quickly the planet rotates on its axis.

I wonder if staff will ever perform a freak cosmic stunt like keeping the sun at high sun for two days.

I remember during the last HRPT that something was up with the moon or moons, but I don't remember what. I assume that's safe to talk about superficially, I mean, you couldn't really avoid it if you were playing at the time.

The dragon should come again, decide he'll let this bit of the world grow a little greener before he sucks the hell out of everything, and leave, and that starts making the sun turn the wrong way in the sky.

[chuci]

I like thinking that, contrary to Earth reality, Zalanthas is a flat plane, layered with many other planes, and the moon and sun are purely magickal.

[Barsook]

Same, but more of the flat plane not the sun and moon being magickal.

[Malken]

like ur mom

[Eyeball]

Maybe an ambitious pair could measure the length of the shadow cast by an upright staff of five cords at high sun, one in Red Storm and the other in Tuluk, on the same day. Then, by using the distance between Red Storm and Tuluk, they could calculate the radius of Zalanthas.

Assuming Zalanthas is even a sphere.

[long live miley cyrus]

Suddenly, a great plot for nobility to waste a fragment of their money and the time and lives of others in order to further their own personal curiousity which after being satisfied will be forgotten in a week---

with no coded results.

It must be done immediately.

[Nyr]

I wonder how quickly the planet rotates on its axis.

Once per day.  Unless I am misunderstanding your question?

I wonder if staff will ever perform a freak cosmic stunt like keeping the sun at high sun for two days.

I remember during the last HRPT that something was up with the moon or moons, but I don't remember what. I assume that's safe to talk about superficially, I mean, you couldn't really avoid it if you were playing at the time.

It's on the history page, actually--quite safe to talk about.

I don't think the location of the orbital plane is adequately answered here, and would have to be defined officially by staff in documentation or echoes that were consistent across the Known.  Given that Nathvaan has been involved with moon phases, I'll mention it to him!

[Kol]

I wonder how quickly the planet rotates on its axis.

Once per day.  Unless I am misunderstanding your question?

That made me laugh. I think he means does it rotate at the same speed as earth, so every zalanthian day would be twenty four hours in earth time, or whether it took a longer, or shorter time to rotate.

Considering the geographical makeup of the known, and our own galaxy's makeup of planets with a similar terrain (mars, although the heat isn't there, Venus, although that's too hot) Id assume it's somewhere in between Venus and Earth is distance from Suk Krath, which means it would rotate at around four thirds earth speed (Or, if you prefer, take off 6 hours) to maintain is distance and orbit.

I will admit to having a VERY limited understanding of astrophysics, so would not vouch for my own deductions without a little research, but from the little I do know, that's my best guess.

So, in answer to your question, I'd guess 1 zalanthian day would take the planet the Knowns on around 18 hours to rotate. The planet itself would be similar in size to say, earth or mars, or between the two, and around halfway between earth and Venus in relation to it's orbit.

[long live miley cyrus]

Right I think I was confusing that with how long it takes for the planet to revolve around the sun, which would be a year rather than a day and unlike the day could vary wildly. Because you know I don't routinely get in situations where this matters or anything.

If I had to guess, I'd say like Nyr, one day. Nine game hours or ninety RL minutes. Of course the planet could be very large, very small, very dense, very light, and we're not at the equator if I heard correctly, so SCIENCE

[Delirium]

We're definitely not at the equator considering how lopsided nights and days are. But those physics are pretty confusing too.

I still stand by my "Zalanthas is actually flat" theory.

[Riya OniSenshi]

Stop trying to apply real astrophysics.

Assuming Arm retains the general idea of its Dark Sun origins, the sun was artificially aged by magick from a yellow to a red.

If I recall, Athas had a similar position and orbit as Earth, and I don't recall mention of any other planets in the sphere.

[long live miley cyrus]

I'm going to assume we're at or close to the antartic pole, enjoying what little is left of the habitable zone, where the rest of the planet is so magicked up and dry that parts of the ground randomly burst into flames from sheer friction in what is a living-world copy of hell.

Or, you know, crush my dreams, and all that, tomorrow's a new day.

I like the sun thing. I hope that's a thing.

[Eyeball]

I've tended to imagine Zalanthas as being in orbit around a red giant star. Its orbital period being many thousand Zalanthanian "years", so that a so-called year is just a measurement of time and doesn't represent a complete orbit.

This would explain why the Known World is locked in a perpetual summer, in which the sun is only absent from the sky for two hours of the day. The axial tilt has more or less stayed the same relative to the sun within memory since it takes Zalanthas so long to complete an orbit.

It could also explain why there's little water left in the air. It's had a long time to snow out and accumulate at the darkness-locked opposite pole. Eventually, as Zalanthas continues in its orbit through the distant ages, day should even out with night and the dark pole start receiving light. A sudden wealth of water could evaporate and spread around the world. Then, as the other pole is locked in darkness, it would accumulate there, and things would dry out again. And so on.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

I definitely think things like this should have real answers. Just to further the realism aspect.

[Barsook]

I definitely think things like this should have real answers. Just to further the realism aspect.

[valeria]

Sun aged by magick?  What?  Clearly it was all those solar panels in the desert that sucked the energy right out of it.

[Symphony]

Sun aged by magick?  What?  Clearly it was all those solar panels in the desert that sucked the energy right out of it.

So that's how Elkrosian's get their juice. Neat! 


- Symph

[Oleupata]

Actually, Zalanthas is caught in a rosette orbit between red dwarf binaries, which explains why night and day are lopsided. That's actually an IC effect.

(Kidding, but it works.)

[BadSkeelz]

I subscribe to the theory that we are in a binary, and that Lirathu is a white dwarf, or Jihae is another, more distant red giant. I forget which made the most sense when Kismet worked it out.

[Nyr]

I subscribe to the theory that we are in a binary, and that Lirathu is a white dwarf, or Jihae is another, more distant red giant. I forget which made the most sense when Kismet worked it out.

then who was black moon

[BadSkeelz]

Oh thats just some magickal wankery not worth thinking about.