On an astrophysical timescale, a red giant star approaches extinction. Therefore, the redness, suggestive of a sunset even when the swollen, sky-filling sun is directly overhead, is appropriate. For the association of sunset with latter days on Earth, see "The Sunset Of Mankind," here.
On Alfzar in the Betelgeusean System, Dominic Flandry flies above:
gaunt peaks;
canyons shadowed in violet;
snowfields red-tinged, suggesting blood.
Poul Anderson takes the red theme further. Dank, blood-red mist, smelling like wet iron, drifts through Flandry's open bedroom windows. How better to convey that a man from Earth is now on an exotic, extra-solar planet?
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
If I remember correctly, by the late 1970's, the scientific consensus was that red giant stars were not likely to have planets with life on them. Which PA made use of when revising the story. The Alfzarians did not evolve in the Betelgeusean system--rather, they descended from settlers coming from a now unknown planet. Settlers who, over a long time period, made Alfzar and other planets orbiting Betelgeuse habitable.
Sean
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