Re: equinox

-----Mensaje original-----
De: Pablo Flores <fflores@...>
Fecha: Jueves 24 de Septiembre de 1998 11:26
Asunto: Re: equinox


>Herman Miller wrote:
>>On Wed, 23 Sep 1998 15:46:22 -0700, Matt Pearson <mpearson@...>
>wrote:
>>
>>>How are the seasons named and delimited in other people's conlangs?
>>>How about weather terms?  Do people whose conlangs are spoken on other
>>>planets have any 'exotic' terminology for weather or seasonal changes?
>>
>>I probably ought to, but I haven't thought much about alien seasons.
>>
>> [...] I can't even
>>imagine what the weather would be like on a planet orbiting Procyon, or
>>even if a stable orbit is possible with Procyon B nearby.
>
>Procyon is a double system?
>I once began to think, just as an exercise, about how the seasons would go
>on in a planet with two or more suns. The idea is fascinating in the field
>of language too -- how would call the Sun(s)? In one of my SF stories, a
>planet with two suns was inhabited by a race who named them with a
>compound, something between a colective plural and a non-singular form
>(like 'the dead, the rich' in English). They imagined they were a mother
>and her daughter (so the word was feminine), and that the daughter
>constantly played around her mother in circles.
>
>Anyway, there may not be seasons. If the Earth's axis were not tilted by 23
>degrees, the eccentricity of the orbit wouldn't be enough to produce a
>noticeable change in global temperatures. (This would be boring, of course;
>I wouldn't have a conculture like that).
>
>
I was thinking about planet Akulm with the following characteristisc:

Akulm is a rocky (Earthiest) planet, surrounded by a heavy atmosphere.

Some facts form Akulm:
- Mean diameter: 15200 km (some how greater than Earth).
- Year: 452.4 Earth Standard Days, 505 Akulm Standard Days, 506 Akulm
Syderal Days over an almost circular orbit.
- Day: 21.5 Earth Hours.
- Moons: 1 spherical moon with a 56 Akulm Days phase period, 2 irregular
with 21 and 26 Akulm Days phase period.
- Suns: 1 big red star and 1 smaller but brighter blue star circling each
other with a 1086 Earth Hour period (50.5 Akulm Days).
- Rotation axis inclination against elliptical normal: 15%.
- Rotation is done in the same sense as translation.
- Surface is cover by oceanic water over a 56% but there are many lakes and
rivers.
Two main continents, one of them covering a pole (let's say south) and
extending over the opposite hemisphere (let's say northern) The other one
completely on northern hemisphere. Many big islands and many small island.
- Life is supported on water and coal chemistry.
- Atmosphere near surface: 88% N2, 10% O2, 1% CO2, 1% SO, other gases total:
less than 0.3%. Surface pressure: 1450 mb (Earth: 1013 mb).

I was thinking the planet would be orbiting both stars (so the dubble star
should be in the middle of the planetary sytstem but now I realize that if
one of them is a red giant, the orbit shuld be little longer than 452.4
Earth years... maybe by 80 Earth years or so.

Any how, if both stars were small enough for the above description, there is
a natural period for counting: the 50-51 days period in which both stars
whould be eclipsing each other (the blue one is smaller but brighter) and
probably temperature whould vary in that period.

The 15 degrees tilt would influence wether too but most of the planet should
be more influenced by the stars rotation period.  The anual seasons would be
more markable in near the poles, and after the bigger continent covers the
surthern pole any race living there should be aware of the double season
period.

The race I was suposli to describe is near the Equator line so the 50-51
days period (lets call it solar month...) should be more important to them
than the 505 days period.  But observing the sky at night (they have night)
they could mark the solar year (translation period) of ten solar months.

They would then notice:  Both suns in the day light with blue star preseding
the red one.  Blue risings, red settings, warm weather.
Then: Red sun hiding blue one (if we asume the whole system rotating in the
same way), cold weather.
Some days later, blue sun will apear following the read one.  Red risings,
blue settings.  Warm waether again.
Finnaly the blue sun would be in front of the red one, not as cold as the
Red period.

They would name the days after how the suns are seen during the days and the
solar months would be called after any constelation shown on night.

The three moons' periods would make some other counts, but, I guess tides
are not very predictable and those period are not as important for civil
porpuses.

-- Carlos Th
http://members.tripod.com/~chlewey/Akulm/Akulm.html