GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

'Verse Calendar

POSTED BY: RALLEM
UPDATED: Saturday, November 10, 2007 03:46
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 1515
PAGE 1 of 1

Wednesday, November 7, 2007 10:30 AM

RALLEM


What type of calendar is used in the ‘Verse? Is it a separate calendar for each planet, or perhaps a 365 day calendar of Earth minus the Leap Year, or is it another form of calendar? I was just thinking about the “Out of Gas,” when River sputtered something about the something in the calendar not being relevant anymore, and then clarifying that she did not get him anything, and was wondering what she said and meant. I am at work and cannot watch the episode so I was wondering if anyone here knew the answer to these questions.



NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Wednesday, November 7, 2007 8:04 PM

NCBROWNCOAT


There has to be some way to standardize the date through out the system, what with planets and moons with different rotations, # of days in a "year", seasons etc.

I figure it's would be much like the way time was standardized in the US by the railroads. Otherwise in Philadelphia it would be 9 a.m. and on the other side of the state in Pittsburgh it would be 8:55 a.m.. It was done for scheduling purposes.

I would assume the same situation would exist in the Firefly 'verse for convenience sake...maybe in the Core worlds at least but maybe not on the Rim.







http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/









NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, November 8, 2007 2:23 AM

FLATTOP


Because each of the settled planets can be assumed to have a different spin rate and solar orbital schedule (year), I would imagine that most things are done by most people using "local time". Planting, harvest, wake up, goto bed, etc.

Wow, talk about screwing with your circadian rythms... what if you had a 36 hour day?

Places that don't have a sundown (think Northern latitudes where sun shines for a month at a time, only instead of a month, it's forever) might work on "Allied Standard Time", and as said above, shipping schedules and communications would likely be done using AST as well.

----------
Remember to vote! http://www.usbmicro.com/misc

Sign up NOW! http://fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=25704
More Information: http://76thbattalion.homestead.com/index.html

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, November 8, 2007 2:28 PM

RALLEM


Joss Wheden said there is no FTL travel in the 'Verse, but from a map of the 'Verse I saw somewhere online it looked like there were five suns in the shape of pentagram with the center star being a blue giant.



How would you travel five solar systems without ftl travel, and if there is only one how do you get 90 some odd earths to fit in the terra belt when our sun can only fit three?


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, November 9, 2007 3:00 AM

SPACEANJL


That is an eerie-ass system there.

I'd go with the Alliance Standard Time. My vision - the Central Square in Londinium, and a very big clock, something mock-Gothic and Burtonesque. The actual timekeeping would be atomic or the like, but with a traditional face and hands. They light it up on holidays.

I'm not sure every planet is actually inhabited - those that are probably conform to a certain standard of gravity and rotation, and climatic range. Though I have it in my head that there may be planets that are not M-class but might be mineral rich, with outposts that are purely commercial, rather than 'settlements'.

Humans are very adaptable. Somewhere out there will be planets that spend six months in darkness. The settlers probably have names like Magnussen.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, November 9, 2007 4:56 AM

FLATTOP


Quote:

Originally posted by rallem:
Joss Wheden said there is no FTL travel in the 'Verse, but from a map of the 'Verse I saw somewhere online it looked like there were five suns in the shape of pentagram with the center star being a blue giant.



How would you travel five solar systems without ftl travel, and if there is only one how do you get 90 some odd earths to fit in the terra belt when our sun can only fit three?



Going just from this, and a minor bit of poorly remembered education...

The map isn't actually to scale. It's more of a conceptual representation of single solar system that orbits the blue giant (think about maps of the USA that shoehorn in Alaska & Hawaii).
The straight lines from point to point aren't actual transit paths. Gravity & orbital velocities make everything involving interplanetary (& interstellar & intergalactic) travel involve curves (even beams of light bend when exposed to gravity), so again, just concept lines.
The outer 'suns' may be gas giants that are large enough to generate enough heat to make their moons habitable, but not quite big enough to be classed as suns. The various planets and moons that are inhabited are all actually moons of the gas giants.

I suppose it's possible for 5 gas giants and their various moons to be in geosynchronous (or even geostationary) orbit around a single star, in which case the realative positions in the solar ecliptic could be literal...

This is a constant point of contention amongst fans. I think Joss may not have particularly cared if this system could really exist. He just needed to tell his story, and made the verse fit.


----------
Remember to vote! http://www.usbmicro.com/misc

Sign up NOW! http://fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=25704
More Information: http://76thbattalion.homestead.com/index.html

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, November 9, 2007 5:45 AM

RALLEM


Quote:

Originally posted by FlatTop:
Quote:

Originally posted by rallem:
Joss Wheden said there is no FTL travel in the 'Verse, but from a map of the 'Verse I saw somewhere online it looked like there were five suns in the shape of pentagram with the center star being a blue giant.



How would you travel five solar systems without ftl travel, and if there is only one how do you get 90 some odd earths to fit in the terra belt when our sun can only fit three?



Going just from this, and a minor bit of poorly remembered education...

The map isn't actually to scale. It's more of a conceptual representation of single solar system that orbits the blue giant (think about maps of the USA that shoehorn in Alaska & Hawaii).
The straight lines from point to point aren't actual transit paths. Gravity & orbital velocities make everything involving interplanetary (& interstellar & intergalactic) travel involve curves (even beams of light bend when exposed to gravity), so again, just concept lines.
The outer 'suns' may be gas giants that are large enough to generate enough heat to make their moons habitable, but not quite big enough to be classed as suns. The various planets and moons that are inhabited are all actually moons of the gas giants.

I suppose it's possible for 5 gas giants and their various moons to be in geosynchronous (or even geostationary) orbit around a single star, in which case the realative positions in the solar ecliptic could be literal...

This is a constant point of contention amongst fans. I think Joss may not have particularly cared if this system could really exist. He just needed to tell his story, and made the verse fit.


----------
Remember to vote! http://www.usbmicro.com/misc

Sign up NOW! http://fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=25704
More Information: http://76thbattalion.homestead.com/index.html]

Perhaps Joss Whedon didn't care if the 'verse worked, but as a fan of multiple sci fi stories I sort of do and try making sense of stuff even if an illogical leap of faith has to be made.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, November 9, 2007 5:57 AM

SPACEANJL


Ezra and Regina orbit a gas giant called Georgia...

So even the moons have moons, huh? Cool.

Navigating would be fun. There would be no constant point of reference.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, November 9, 2007 7:16 AM

RALLEM


How can a gas giant be a moon? Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune are all gas giants and from my understanding Jupiter is short of being its own star by very little since it radiates more energy than it receives from our sun.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, November 9, 2007 7:44 AM

SPACEANJL


Sorry, being a bit obscure and replying to about three different things at once.

The gas giants orbit the star designated as the sun. Smaller planets orbit the gas giants. Even smaller planets orbit these planets.

It all depends on the classification of 'sun', 'star', 'planet' and 'moon'. If a moon is a planetary satellite, and a planet is defined as a body with a solar orbit, then moons could have moons. Sort of, because then it all gets a bit technical with primary and secondary satellites, and my head hurts. I did history, not science...

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, November 9, 2007 8:08 AM

FLATTOP


I am hereby announcing "FlatTop's Continuous Continuum Consultation" aka FTC3.
I will review your stories and worlds to make certain that you don't violate the rules of the verse without an explanation.
Maps developed, orbits plotted, timelines coordinated, and multiphasic objects neutralized.

Using someone else's jacked up anomoly ridden construct that folk'd take exception to if I fixed it ain't covered.

Suggested rule for all writers:
No matter how bizarre your world is, when human's come into contact with it they define planetary rotation as East. If the planet doesn't spin (like our moon), then it's orbital direction is East.


----------
Remember to vote! http://www.usbmicro.com/misc

Sign up NOW! http://fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=11&t=25704
More Information: http://76thbattalion.homestead.com/index.html

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, November 9, 2007 2:45 PM

STINKINGROSE


Jupiter is far from being a sun. It radiates more energy than it receives from Sol because it is so far away from Sol that it does not get much at all compared to Earth. We'd be a binary system otherwise.

Hey Flattop! Good to see you again!

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, November 9, 2007 3:42 PM

RALLEM


Jupiter is not that far from being a sun. It actually has moons with atmospheres who gain most if not all of their radiant pawer from Jupiter, and I just finished reading about stars and some really old stars are smaller than the Earth. I went to some children's astronomy site trying to figure out what effect a a Blue Giant Sun would have.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, November 9, 2007 7:07 PM

NCBROWNCOAT


Quote:

Originally posted by SpaceAnJL:
That is an eerie-ass system there.

I'd go with the Alliance Standard Time. My vision - the Central Square in Londinium, and a very big clock, something mock-Gothic and Burtonesque. The actual timekeeping would be atomic or the like, but with a traditional face and hands. They light it up on holidays.

I'm not sure every planet is actually inhabited - those that are probably conform to a certain standard of gravity and rotation, and climatic range. Though I have it in my head that there may be planets that are not M-class but might be mineral rich, with outposts that are purely commercial, rather than 'settlements'.

Humans are very adaptable. Somewhere out there will be planets that spend six months in darkness. The settlers probably have names like Magnussen.



Could it be called Big Ben 2? After all it's on Londinium.

Your dark planet sounds a lot like St. Albans. Ice and snow and dark but mineral rich.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/









NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, November 10, 2007 3:46 AM

SPACEANJL


That was kinda the idea. But a really, really big version. (Big Ben is actually the bell inside the tower, btw.) The set design in my head is a mix of Fritz Lang, Tim Burton and Ridley Scott, anyway. Pugin and Foster on the scale of Speer, with a Gibson/Dick vibe.

Yeah, I imagine some smaller planets to have been resource depots. Of course, once they got mined out, the settlers probably just got left to fend for themselves. (My idea of Deadwood, anyhow; a mining and shipbuilding planet, still clinging on as a repair and scrap stopover.) There's a tangent - planets that wanted to stay in the Alliance, but were too poor and far out to be worth it...

Anyhow, on topic. AST would work like GMT - and the month names still hold. Inara was due to arrive in New Dunsmuir in October, in one episode. And it seems that the 24 hour day, seven day week holds, regardless. (Sunday on Lilac, dinner at 1600...)



NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

YOUR OPTIONS

NEW POSTS TODAY

USERPOST DATE

FFF.NET SOCIAL