Farydia
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Joined: Sun 11 Oct 2020, 13:29

Lubau and Mahanji Oasis

Wed 12 Jul 2023, 01:02

I am a bit confused by the description of Lubau (and by extension the Mahanji Oasis). It says that the planet has always the same side facing the sun. That would mean it has a locked orbit and a synchronous rotation with its sun, i. e. it takes just as long to rotate around its axis as it takes to rotate around the sun. This eliminates seasons, but also the day-night-cycle. The text does not use these exact words, but it says:
The very first thing the starfarers noticed when they arrived at Lubau was that the axial tilt of the planet was 43 degrees and that the same side was always facing the sun. This means that the planet is without seasons and that the variations in temperature between the hemispheres are enormous.
So far, so good. But the factsheet states a day length of 27 hours, and a sidereal year of 91 days. Shouldn't the day and year have the exact same length, if the same side is always facing the sun? Also in the description for the Mahanji Oasis, there are temperatures given for day and night. Which makes no sense if there is no Day-Night-Cycle. Am I reading this wrong? Is Lubau's rotation not synchronous as the description implies?

Sorry, but these kind of thing drives me a little crazy :D.
 
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MutantFromMars
Posts: 60
Joined: Tue 18 Jun 2019, 22:36

Re: Lubau and Mahanji Oasis

Thu 13 Jul 2023, 18:31

I noticed this in the Mahanji Oasis pdf I got from DriveThru, which suggests two possibilities:

1. Lubau's orbit is eccentric. Mahanji is in the northern hemisphere on the tilt, so while the facing remains the same, the oasis is sometimes in a slightly higher or lower position at various points in its rotation, sufficient to warrant a slight temperature shift. "Night" is when the Oasis is at it's coolest and Kua is lowest in the sky. (Note, my limited astrophysics may not be up to the challenge here and a shifting orbit may not be enough the explain the discrepancy....)

2. The authors just forgot about Lubau being tidally locked and added a standard "cooler in the desert at night" temperature range. :D

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