The Man Who Counts, XI.
Regarding those two moons of Diomedes (see The Marriage Of The Moons), I had imagined two small discs, like Deimos and Phobos seen from Mars. (Within the Solar System, all moons except Earth's are many times smaller than their primaries.) Instead:
"Both moons were sinking, each a cold coppery disk twice the apparent size of Earth's Luna." (p. 215)
Twice the size of Earth's Moon! So their "marriage" has to be spectacular. It becomes easier to understand the Diomedeans' awe towards She Who Waits and He Who Pursues. Add to this some other overwhelming celestial and environmental phenomena - see Something Else Terrifying - and Diomedes would be a very disturbing place for human beings to visit.
One colonized planet in Poul Anderson's Psychotechnic History has a considerably more complicated pattern of heavenly bodies in its sky. See here.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Disturbing? Yes, but I hope I would find such planets beautiful and fascinating to visit or live on.
Ad astra! Sean
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