the Un-Hijackable, Non Sequitor, Rambling Thread

[FungiUg]

I'll be sure to suggest that for his next "epic". Are we talking pejorative gay fairies, Tinkerbell/Disney fairies, or the psychotic fangy little fairies from Labyrinth? It's best to be specific or he'll stuff 'em all in there, all willy nilly and crazy-like.

Well, that depends on the author. Crazy fairies have a certain... charm though.

 

[graceanne]

I'll be sure to suggest that for his next "epic". Are we talking pejorative gay fairies, Tinkerbell/Disney fairies, or the psychotic fangy little fairies from Labyrinth? It's best to be specific or he'll stuff 'em all in there, all willy nilly and crazy-like.

How about L.K. Hamilton faeries?

Doyle. *rowr*

 

[Sir_Winston54]

Okay... I'm reading a sci-fi book, and there's a mention of "Stars, planets, the two moons -- one crescent, one full."

That stopped me in my tracks. Is it possible for two moons to be in different phases when they circle the same planet and the same sun? For some reason, my monkey brain says no, they have to be in the same phase... but at the same time, my reader brain says, wait, what? A professional sci-fi writer wouldn't make an error on something as basic as that.

What am I missing?

 

[FungiUg]

Okay... I'm reading a sci-fi book, and there's a mention of "Stars, planets, the two moons -- one crescent, one full."

That stopped me in my tracks. Is it possible for two moons to be in different phases when they circle the same planet and the same sun? For some reason, my monkey brain says no, they have to be in the same phase... but at the same time, my reader brain says, wait, what? A professional sci-fi writer wouldn't make an error on something as basic as that.

What am I missing?

You're missing that many SF authors don't do enough research. Apparently this is one of the classic mistakes in SF.

Think about it... if one were full and visible, then the other would have to be near full to be visible, or not visible if it were a crescent.

I've seen a few SF covers with different simultaneous moon phases on the cover illustration too. Oh well.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

You're missing that many SF authors don't do enough research. Apparently this is one of the classic mistakes in SF.

Think about it... if one were full and visible, then the other would have to be near full to be visible, or not visible if it were a crescent.

I've seen a few SF covers with different simultaneous moon phases on the cover illustration too. Oh well.

See, that's just it. I know I've seen cover or story illustration pics with different moon phases at the same time, and quite probably read stories/novels with this situation mentioned, so it makes me wonder if I'm missing something, e.g., perhaps they're in vastly different orbits... but it still seems to me that they should be in or near the same phase. Don't we have any astrophysicists in this eclectic group?

 

[Sir_Winston54]

So I'm scanning through my My Pictures folder for some reason, and run into a pic that just makes me want to walk into the bedroom, reach under the bed for my cane case, and pull out a selection of three or four crops and canes...

Here's a cropped copy of the pic... I think you can all see why it had that effect.

http://www.myimghost.com/images/denw5bue54q7e85ssnsk_thumb.jpg