On Mon, 5 Aug 2002 19:26:58 -0400, Chris Turkel <zizban at adelphia.net> wrote: >Tides have been mentioned, which infers the presence of a moon. Tides >without a moon (with just a sun) would be very small, akin to those >found on lakes. Actually, suns do reasonably well - ours has a significant effect. I believe the effects are proportional to the density times (r/R)^3 - since our sun and moon have approx. the same r/R from us, the density is the important factor, and our moon wins by over a factor of 2. Also, we have a large, close moon, compared to others in our solar system. But our sun has to be taken into account and is the reason for the difference in our tidal magnitudes throughout the month. So regardless of who's doing the inferring it is not clear that there is a moon. A need for a tidal schedule would imply a moon - purely solar tides should be the same each day. I haven't read Brokedown Palace. Presumably one can see the sky occasionally there. Was there any mention? Richard