On Mirkheim:
"The ground was not cratered and dust-covered like that of a normal airless body; it was blank, dimly shining, here and there corrugated in fantastic ridges where moltenness had congealed. Its darkness cut sharply across the Milky Way."
-Mirkheim, VII, p. 120.
Objects seen against the Milky Way have multiplied recently.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And given Poul Anderson's concern for rigorous scientific accuracy (or at least plausibility) I would not be surprised if there are actually planets in the Galaxy coated or covered with "supermetals" like Mirkheim.
Sean
Judging by this article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_of_stability
It was when Anderson wrote 'Mirkheim', and still is, a matter of speculation whether any of these super-heavy elements might have isotopes with half lives in the millions of years (or longer) that would be needed for a Mirkheim to have any of them to be mined.
Kaor, Jim!
Of course I agree all this can only be speculations, for now.
Ad astra! Sean
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