Re: Eclipses

From: Julian Lord <julian.lord_at_wanadoo.fr>
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2001 09:29:52 +0200


Alex :

> > I myself would have thought that *something* at least must occur when the
> > *apparent* directions & heights of the Moon and Sun coincide
>
> Assuming they're of equal sizes, at least, yes.

Or : similar enough "apparent" sizes, and yes the objection had occurred to me.

> The question is,
> when and where does this happen?
>
> First of all, note that while the position of the red moon is always
> the same, the height of the sun varies seasonally; therefore, no
> place suffers total eclipses _daily_, which was my original observation.

Ah, I see ; you were just being cheeky then and/or obfuscating ? No problem...

> (Other factors working out correctly, they may see them either once
> or twice per year, however.)

>
> > Or are you suggesting that the Moon *always* appears either higher
> > or lower than the Sun, depending on whether you're inside the Glowline
> > or out ?
>
> No; though the truth may be odder still. ;-) My current understanding
> (thinking, or assumption, as the case may be) is that: a) the red moon
> is always in the apparent direction of Glamour;

The Crater surely ? (quibble, quibble, toil and tribble as at least one cross-posting openherowarser might put it)

> b) it doesn't have a
> "physical height", at least inside of the Glowline; rather, it appears
> in effect to be "in" the Sky;

But this might not prevent it from having an "apparent" height ?

> and c), the Glowline itself effects
> what _part of_ the sky the moon is seen in (and possibly even whether
> it's part of the Sky, or part of the Middle Air).

hmmm ... sounds pretty weird. If true, does this mean that the RM over Sartar (sorry couldn't resist the pith) "apparently" acts like a yo-yo during the Dragonrise ?

I've been wondering about the Silver Shadow in this respect. While it seems that the line around the SS must once have been the edge of the Glowline, I have also been wondering if it mightn't have some other celestiological meaning, ie that it's northernmost point might be the place where an eclipse occurs at midday during one of the solstices ?

Related question : have the imaginary lines of the Sunpath during the solstices (those places where the Sun "appears" as passing directly overhead during the course of those two days) been worked out ?

Julian


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