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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Uranus is hanging low in the sky...
From Luke Skywalker watching the twin sunset on Tatooine to the sweep of a ringworld rising from the horizon in Halo, strange stuff in the sky is a staple of SF. In that spirit, check out these photos by Ron Miller.
Personally, I'd rather the Earth had rings. That would be gorgeous.
And I still cannot use my mind's eye to visualize what a ring planet ala Halo / Ringworld would look like. Considering that the landscape would always be rising, I can't imagine how it would look.
One assumes that the atmosphere would prevent you from seeing the ring rise and that eventually you'd just see a thin line in the sky, but again... brain can't create the scene.
Yeah, that would make for some really exciting tides. Assuming the entire planet (Earth, that is) wasn't just tidally locked one face to the planet. And egg shaped. Well, more egg shaped.
I'm way too lazy to do the orbital calculations, but at that distance, I think we'd be slinging around Jupiter ever 20 minutes or so, too. ;) "Day! Night! Day! Night! Day! Night!"
(Ok, I'm not too lazy, and I'm wrong. It'd be an orbital period of ~1.5 days. Probably pretty cold, though.)
Robb, here's some somewhat crude renderings of what the Ringworld would look like. Maybe it'll help visualize it: http://www.squareshadow.com/graphics/ringworld/index.html
I'd give my firstborn for a real-life glimpse of something like that.
Pretty pics. Course if Saturn really looked like that water would run up hill, but nice thoughts anyway.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'd rather the Earth had rings. That would be gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteAnd I still cannot use my mind's eye to visualize what a ring planet ala Halo / Ringworld would look like. Considering that the landscape would always be rising, I can't imagine how it would look.
One assumes that the atmosphere would prevent you from seeing the ring rise and that eventually you'd just see a thin line in the sky, but again... brain can't create the scene.
Yeah, that would make for some really exciting tides. Assuming the entire planet (Earth, that is) wasn't just tidally locked one face to the planet. And egg shaped. Well, more egg shaped.
ReplyDeleteI'm way too lazy to do the orbital calculations, but at that distance, I think we'd be slinging around Jupiter ever 20 minutes or so, too. ;) "Day! Night! Day! Night! Day! Night!"
(Ok, I'm not too lazy, and I'm wrong. It'd be an orbital period of ~1.5 days. Probably pretty cold, though.)
Seen Mr. Miller's Stuff at Sci-Fi Conventions in the past.
ReplyDeleteHe's OUR Era's Bonestell.
Robb, here's some somewhat crude renderings of what the Ringworld would look like. Maybe it'll help visualize it: http://www.squareshadow.com/graphics/ringworld/index.html
ReplyDeleteI'd give my firstborn for a real-life glimpse of something like that.
jf
Seeing the rings of Saturn through my spotting-scope when it was real-close about ten years ago was quite something!!
ReplyDeleteSo, would Jupiter look something like that from its moons, or would it look more like the blue marble from the Moon due to different distances?
ReplyDeleteAnd I've driven 127, 190 and 395 at night; to have those planets in the sky would be awe-filling.
"Uranus is hanging low in the sky". . .
ReplyDeleteTHANKS. Now I've got "Do Your Ears Hang Low" running through my head with more scatalogical lyrics.
Got vertigo looking at Jupiter and Saturn like that.
ReplyDeletegvi
Watch out for Klingons.
ReplyDelete( hitches pants back up )
ReplyDelete