(urth) Crotali

[John Watkins]

Apu Punchau:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apu_Punchau

On Tue, Jun 22, 2010 at 9:34 PM, Jane Delawney <jane_delawney at sky.com>wrote:

> On 20/06/10 02:02, Mr Thalassocrat wrote:
>
>> On Sun, Jun 20, 2010 at 9:40 AM, Jane Delawney<jane_delawney at sky.com>wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> The only explanation that I can see
>>> here is that the poles, the hemispheres themselves, are not arranged as
>>> Sev
>>> knew them in his original place and time.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> I just assumed that he has travelled so far back in time that the proper
>> motions of the stars had carried them far away from their positions in his
>> own day.
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proper_motion
>>
>>
>>
> Since I haven't been re-reading Wolfe's appendices until after I have
> finished the books themselves, I hadn't until after I posted my query about
> the Crotali read the comment right at the end of TUOTNS:
>
> "... it should be noted that the stars seen in the skies of the
> Commonwealth in winter rise in spring over the Stone Town (presumably due to
> the precession of the equinoxes) ... "
>
> This comment occurs in the discussion of the  apparent 'miracle' of the
> prolongation of night by Apu-Punchau; GW goes on to state that Severian's
> seeing of his accustomed spring stars in the delayed dawn supports the
> theory that the prolongation of the night is no 'miracle' but  rather is
> caused by an eclipse of the sun - eclipsed by Tzadkiel's vast ship, we are
> led to assume. Sev's childhood spring stars are still there, but they rise a
> great deal later than they should for the time of  year.
>
> This would appear to make sense astronomically and there's no need to
> invoke a polar flip. However it does beg the question of exactly how far the
> equinoxes would need to precess to produce this effect. I believe a full
> Great Year of equinoctial precession lasts some 26000 solar years (is this
> right?) and this would imply that Apu-Punchau's time  is some 13500 years
> before Severian's present at the very least (could be several multiples of
> 26000 plus 13500 of course).
>
> This doesn't have very much to do with proper motion of the stars as such
> of course; however, one might note that there's a hidden implication here
> that Apu-Punchau's era may be on the nearer end of that timescale, since
> proper motion of the stars would definitely affect the shape of
> constellations, and Sev has no hesitation in recognising the Crotali and
> other patterns.
>
> JD
>
>
>
>
>
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