Dragaera

Time and longitude

Tue Feb 15 08:12:35 PST 2005

Jeff G. wrote:
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "John Oliver" <oliver at astro.ufl.edu>
> To: "Dragaera (E-mail)" <dragaera at dragaera.info>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 6:08 AM
> Subject: Time and longitude
> 
> 
> 
>>When the Orb has been active, citizens "know" the time based on the
>>master Imperial Clock.  If Dragaera is a spherical planet, then local
>>time (i.e. dawn, dusk) will vary with longitude around the planet.  Thus
>>a more eastern location might already be in daytime at the seventh hour
>>of the morning (by the Orb), while a much more western location might
>>still be in darkness.
>>My question is: "Does this show up in the books?"
>>-- 
>>John Oliver
>>Associate Professor
>>Associate Chair
>>Department of Astronomy
>>University of Florida
>>Project AST at RHO http://astrho.astro.ufl.edu
>>see the night sky at http://concam.net/rh/
>>
> 
> 
> Well, it's an assumption, but here goes. Drageareans are aware of the
> difference in "time zones", I believe Lady Teldra mentions formula developed
> to ascertain the time in different locals. The Orb knows the location of
> every person linked to it. I would guess that it translates the local time
> for anyone that asks. So, no, it is not stated directly, but neither is it
> contradicted.
> 
> Jeff G.

It would not take long for people to notice this once the ability to 
link mentally appears.  Speaker A: "Well it's about 10 of the morning so 
I will 'port in at about noon"  Speaker B: "What do you mean 10 of the 
morning, it is already 2 past noon"

One way or another time and longitude would become apparent unless the 
planet is so much larger than the continent that the variation is small.

Orca would have quickly learned to navigate using the difference between 
local and orb time for longitude and the position (crude) of the furnace 
for latitude (assing the furnace is detectable).

-- 
John Oliver
Associate Professor
Associate Chair
Department of Astronomy
University of Florida
Project AST at RHO http://astrho.astro.ufl.edu
see the night sky at http://concam.net/rh/