Fenn meets the legendary download Guthrie and they join forces, initially just to learn the truth, not necessarily to oppose anyone else.
Maybe when Anderson wrote this novel, he knew of the Kuiper Belt but not of the Oort Cloud? Wiki indicates that comets originate in the latter, not in the former.
Guthrie's ship enters:
"...the marches of the Solar System, the domain of the comets. None showed to the eye or the ranging instruments. Millionfold though they were, the Kuiper Belt spread too vastly. Sol itself was no more than the brightest in the horde of stars, at the cold river of the Milky Way." (p. 366)
They have seen images of the "...cosmic cybercosm..." (ibid.) but will shortly learn that these images have been faked. Is this discovery an anticlimax to the novel?
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Given the vast distances involved, it might not greatly matter exactly where the Kuiper Belt ends and the Oort Cloud begins. The one must shade almost indetectably into the other.
Sean
Sean,
According to the Wiki articles, there is a vast distance between them.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Meaning the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud are clearly distinct from each other.
Sean
Sean,
Yes, distinct, different and distant. The Kuiper Belt is like an outer asteroid belt. The Oort is where comets fall from.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And this means I need to refresh my knowledge of basic astronomy.
Sean
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