[ audio ]

[airskate]

This is Shadow.

[ No description of his vehicle this time. ]

First, does anyone recognize any of the stars or constellations?

Second, does anyone know the best way to record the ones that aren't familiar?

If we're thorough enough, we might be able to use the stars to navigate.


( OOC: I asked the mods about the stars here if you'd like more info! )

Comments

Audio

[guidemyway]

Wait-

You can use the stars to navigate!?

How!?

[airskate]

[ Uh oh, Shadow's not exactly an expert in this subject—

But he knows a little. Enough to explain. ]

You can tell which is which is based on the sun. If it's morning and the sun is on your right, then the sun is to the east and you're facing north. Right?

[guidemyway]

[Ruby is silent for a moment. She's trying to process just how exactly this works.

Then a little sigh can be heard.]

Okay.

That sort of makes sense. I think.

I don't know. I lost like three maps on one trip. So I cannot confirm or deny that this works.

[airskate]

[ ... Alright, so Ruby might be a little helpless when it comes to navigating. Still, Shadow will try to keep explaining. ]

Well, it does. And the stars are the same way. If there's a star that's always directly to the north, you'll always know where north is so long as you can find it.

And it's harder to lose tracks of stars than a map.

audio;

[faceguy]

Well, I haven't been able to find the Big Dipper. Or the little one either.

[Leo actually likes space and the stars, but he's also never looked at the sky properly when away from NYC's heavy light pollution, so he's pretty much useless for this discussion.]

It's kinda cool, though, right? I've never seen that many stars at once.

[airskate]

Neither have I.

[ Unfortunate, because those are the only ones Shadow knows—and the ones that gave him the idea of trying to use these stars for navigation as well. ]

... It is cool. It's hard to see stars in the city, but if you're far enough away it always looks like this.

[faceguy]

You could even say it's... out of this world.

[Yes, he's going to snicker at his own terrible joke.]

[airskate]

...

[ Shadow heaves a heavy sigh. ]

Just 'cool' is fine.

[faceguy]

Ah, come on! Have some fun with it!

[Voice]

[constantvrunning]

[V is... somewhat... adjusting to people using the Network for things that are Not Text.]

I can help make a composite view - but no, I do not recognize any constellations either.

We can either use photo-taking devices, or make a drawing on a large enough paper and fill it in as we go.

... We could tell if there are other planets, too, not just stars. The difference between them is consistent, since this planet's atmosphere is mostly unchanged from the Earth I know.

[Improbable as that seemed, considering the literal moon fragments everywhere.]

[airskate]

[ Okay, that's good news all around. Except... ]

We'll just need to find enough paper.

[ But more importantly: ]

How can you tell stars and planets apart?

[constantvrunning]

With the right drawing utensils, fabric could take the place of paper. If people are willing to donate.

[Many Drifters need to prioritize clothes, which is understandable.]

Normally it'd depend on how thick the atmosphere is, but- planets are steady points of light relative to the Earth. Stars flicker.

[Okay, tinkle, but V prefers flicker as a word.]

[airskate]

[ Flickering lights vs steady lights? Shadow considers that for a moment. ]

I don't think I've noticed any yet—but there must be many more stars than planets.

[constantvrunning]

I am not sure how we'd verify any numbers, here.

[Not all astronomic data survived the Cataclysm...]

But stars are certainly easier to see; planets are only noticeable when they impact a star's orbit, or reflect its light. If there's other planets within this solar system, those are the likeliest - we've neither resources nor time to consider what else may be out there.

[The biggest threat appears to be parts of the moon, anyway.]

voice

[undyingcrow]

[So someone finally brought it up...

Well then.]

No. The constellations differ greatly, just as the moon does. At this rate, we'd be better off searching for native star charts or creating our own.

[airskate]

[ Hmm... ]

The moon where I'm from is broken, too. I thought this was Earth, at first. But none of the constellations match.

[undyingcrow]

That's an uncanny coincidence.

[It makes sense why it'd throw Shadow off, really.]

Then again, I suppose the same can be said for the messages strung near the power lines. There are messages there that have no business being in a world like this.

[airskate]

Like what? I haven't seen any of the messages yet.

[undyingcrow]

I found several calling cards from the Phantom Thieves, which makes little sense. Many of those cards are months old, and the Thieves are certainly not present here to my knowledge.

[Yet there they were all the same. It's almost taunting, really.]

voice;

[justiceobjects]

[Now this is something Apollo is familiar with, one of the perks of having an astronaut for a best friend.]

Like the others have said, everything here is just totally wrong for Earth. Even if we come from different hemispheres, it should all be the same stars, just flipped around.

Making a star chart is a nice idea. We'd have to cover a lot of ground before the stars start to change.

[airskate]

[ Oh, this is interesting. It sounds like Apollo's knowledge is more than just theoretical here. ]

How much ground?

[ Hold on, he can be more specific. ]

If we were to start making one tonight, how many days of traveling before we wouldn't be able to use it?

[justiceobjects]

Well, uh... we'd have to have an idea of where we started on the planet first. And do we even know what direction we're driving in?

[Besides, Apollo has never been on a road trip before this one. He has no idea how long it would take to drive through an entire hemisphere - and wouldn't it depend on the size of the planet, too?]

I think any star charts would stay useful for quite a while. If we were on Earth, you could navigate in a couple of ways - it's either following the northern or southern pole stars, or watching to see if the stars are moving with you or against you as the planet turns.

[airskate]

[ Even if Apollo can't give him a definitive answer, this all extremely useful to know. Shadow's actually taking physical notes at this point. ]

The thing about the stars turning—what would that indicate?

[ He already knows how someone can orient themself using the sun, but this information about the stars is new to him. ]

[justiceobjects]

Well that's the direction the planet is turning. Using Earth as an example, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west because the planet is rotating in the opposite direction.

So that means the stars and constellations that move in the sky are also moving from east to west in the same way. If you see a star rising, or if you're walking opposite to the movement of the stars, you're going east. If you see a star setting or you're walking with the stars, you're going west.

So that means any stars that don't move are located at the poles, and that's how you can find north and south.

/slides in with Starbucks | audio

[slightlytaller]

[Sleep has been evading him in this strange new world- this was a subject he had been focused on while in the grips of insomnia. Waver chimed in eventually-- with information that could potentially be helpful.]

On the Earth that I'm from, there's many people who indulge in outdoor hobbies to the point that there's star charts and other tools, like astrolabes, still available to anyone who wishes to use the traditional tools.

Like everyone else, I don't recognize anything in the sky-- but, if we can find a cache of outdoors supplies, we might be able to find charts, tools, and other information.

Do we even know if the sun still rises in the east here?