I was looking for story inspiration - I'm working on a fantasy written in French - and I came up with the idea of two suns, like on Tatooine. Only the planet would go in between the two suns, instead of revolving around only one of them, being passed from one gravitational field to the other, in a figure of eight. The possibilities! I thought. Imagine living on a planet that revolves around two suns. What would happen when the planet passed between the suns? Would it simply be daytime all over the planet? How would the light reach the planet when the two suns were in front of it? Would nighttime become shorter? By how much? How would the gravitational shift affect the planet's life, the tides of its oceans, the temperature?
Actually I'm pretty sure that this is impossible. Such a planet would have to be at a very precise distance from the two suns, so that not only can it sustain life, but also pass from one gravitational field to the other. I don't think it's possible that a planet could pass between twin suns without burning up, even if the twin suns were quite far apart.
To verify this, I did what I usually do and googled it, and I came up with the National Geographic website. Writer heaven, let me tell you. Anyway, they confirmed that although a planet could revolve around twin suns and sustain life at the same time, it would only revolve around the outside of them, or only one of them, or something. But not in between the two.
I spent some time checking out the rest of the site, and found many items of interest: intelligent octupi, newly found Egyptian ruins, and light phenomenon not unlike the northern lights:
Actually I'm pretty sure that this is impossible. Such a planet would have to be at a very precise distance from the two suns, so that not only can it sustain life, but also pass from one gravitational field to the other. I don't think it's possible that a planet could pass between twin suns without burning up, even if the twin suns were quite far apart.
To verify this, I did what I usually do and googled it, and I came up with the National Geographic website. Writer heaven, let me tell you. Anyway, they confirmed that although a planet could revolve around twin suns and sustain life at the same time, it would only revolve around the outside of them, or only one of them, or something. But not in between the two.
I spent some time checking out the rest of the site, and found many items of interest: intelligent octupi, newly found Egyptian ruins, and light phenomenon not unlike the northern lights:
I'm a big fan of pretty colours, especially natural ones. I also like art. Try and guess what this is:
No, it's not Van Gogh's palette, it's the great red spot on Jupiter! I love this kind of thing. I hope one day to go somewhere up north, maybe northern Scotland, to see the northern lights.
The planet of the story I'm writing, Deux-Lunes, has two moons as the name suggests, but not twin suns. That may come in another story. I already find twin moons quite challenging: how do they affect the tides? Are women's menstrual cycles affected? What about crops, how to they react? Is there some sort of religious festival celebrating twin full moons? What about when they're both dark? How often does that happen?
The planet of the story I'm writing, Deux-Lunes, has two moons as the name suggests, but not twin suns. That may come in another story. I already find twin moons quite challenging: how do they affect the tides? Are women's menstrual cycles affected? What about crops, how to they react? Is there some sort of religious festival celebrating twin full moons? What about when they're both dark? How often does that happen?
If you've any ideas (bearing in mind that one moon is full eleven times in a year, and one is full thirteen times like ours), let me know. I'd love to hear them!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment