The night sky

[D]

Good morning, I've been reading about the night sky in GtG and have a few questions,

1) how far does the sky tilt back and forwards, I've worked out an upper limit of 45 degrees from north to south but that seems a lot.

2) are the east / west gates in a straight line with polestar at the equinoxes, because if they are then the days get shorter towards the summer solstice as the tilt heads north.

3) GtG mentions the Ice palace, but not what it looks like, is it one star or a cluster.

4) do the twinstars orbit each other while they cross the sky,

5) does Orlanths ring orbit the dragons head as it goes from storm gate to Polestar.

is there another source of information I can reference other than GtG

thanks in advance for any help.

[Nick Brooke]

1) I programmed a Visual Basic version of the Sky Dome back in 1994, which Mr Tines turned into a Java app, but that was many years before the Guide came out. I also drew a couple of diagrams recently that you might like.

2) Yes, but no, because the Sunpath also runs higher in summer and lower in winter: that counterbalances the effect you're thinking of. See my diagram.

3) I think Greg imagined it as a cluster of stars; I tend to think of it as a kinda crystalline Aurora Borealis effect appearing over the Glacier, myself, because Greg's model made it quite hard to have a constellation rising in the northern sky in winter that doesn't also rise in the southern sky in summer.

4) Yes, absolutely. Spinning around each other in a tight orbit.

5) Why not, eh? It's nice to think that the spiral is spiralling in every possible way as it rises.

Cheers, Nick

[D]

I can't get the app to work, but your post that you linked to really helps. The rising of the sky dome helps make sense of it. 

the Ice palace is like the jumpers and Pamalts spear and doesn't rotate, so a cluster of stars is great.

thank you for the link and wise words.

[D]

one thing I forgot to ask, am I reading it right that Orlanths ring is only visible every other week?

[Nick Brooke]

Yes. It takes one whole week to rise from the hole in the Sky Dome it enters by up to the Pole Star at the apex, then vanishes out the top and can't be seen for a week.

[Sir_Godspeed]

2 hours ago, Nick Brooke said:

3) I think Greg imagined it as a cluster of stars; I tend to think of it as a kinda crystalline Aurora Borealis effect appearing over the Glacier, myself, because Greg's model made it quite hard to have a constellation rising in the northern sky in winter that doesn't also rise in the southern sky in summer.

 

*makes notes for worldbuilding in Northern Pent*