Green Is Urth Redux

Dan'l Danehy-Oakes · 12 Jan 2011, 17:23 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: danldo at gmail.com (Dan'l Danehy-Oakes)
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 09:23:27 -0800
Subject: (urth) Green Is Urth Redux
In-Reply-To: <SNT123-W38CD67D314F80E26394B4CFF10 at phx.gbl>
References: <SNT123-W38CD67D314F80E26394B4CFF10 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <AANLkTi=gj-VRn66WurpNEMYf77EgwwXUoZrjdzR5g8b1 at mail.gmail.com>

Lee Berman wrote:

> If Lune is as small as Moon, it needs a technology-based power source to allow plant growth. That's all. If
> Lune is as big as a planet and has an atmosphere, it can have plant growth even if there is no technology
> present to sustain it.

If Lune is as big (more accurately, as _massive_) as a planet, then we
have problems. If it is in anything close to its current orbit -- let
alone "closer" -- the tidal effects will be horrendous. I don't think
Lune and Urth would quite tear each other apart, but tides like the
ones in the movie _2012_ would be the norm, and I don't care _how_
tectonically "dead" either of them is, there's going to be daily
'quakes of significant scale.

The alternative is for Lune to be much farther out than Luna. But this
would involve a much longer orbit, i.e., a month that lasted quite a
bit longer than 28 days. This is certainly _possible_ -- I don't
recall anything in the text which forbids it -- but seems odd.

Thus, I believe that Lune is likely the size of Luna.

But domes aren't necessary: consider the possibility of "force
fields," whatever they are. That they exist in the Briahtic universe
is clear; Sev wears one as a necklace on the Ship. So it's just a
matter of scale.

-- 
Dan'l Danehy-Oakes

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