Castle Paradox

Mr B · Joined: 20 Mar 2003 Posts: 382

A moon that close would rapidly decay in orbit due to atmospheric drag and you'd have a VERY pretty meteor shower. Assuming that anyone was left alive to enjoy it..!

That's not really a problem, but if it's that close the moon should be elongated. The gravitational effects (the tidal effect) would create constant grinding in the moon, giving it a molten core (assuming it does not already have one) and zillions of earthquakes. Which would look pretty cool on a moon, lava spilling all over and such.

That being said, the only thing that bugs me about it is how diffuse the shadow of the moon is. I am almost certain that it would have a very sharp edge. It's true that shadows become more diffuse the farther away the occluding object is, but on the scale we're looking at here it would look very sharp. It's pretty much all penumbra -- need more umbra.

Fix that, put in stars, and I will be very happy with it. Of course, a lava-earthquake moon would look very nice.

Come to think of it...with the light coming from the direction it is, the moon's shadow shouldn't even be on the planet. Unless this is in a binary system, in which case the dark side of both the planet and the moon should be somewhat more illuminated.

Joe Man · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 11:58 am Post subject:

Now make a planet exploding.
_________________
"Everyone has 200,000 bad drawings in them, the sooner you get them out the better."
~Charles Martin Jones

Last edited by Joe Man on Fri Dec 13, 1957 1:21 am; edited 2,892 time in total

Linkmax · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 1:08 pm Post subject:

Gizmog1 · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 3:14 pm Post subject:

First things first, no, a moon that size can't really orbit that close. It'd have to be moving REALLY REALLY REALLY fast, and an orbit that fast would never last, not to mention some really weird effects it'd have on the planet itself. Secondly, you probably wouldn't see any stars looking at a planet, due to the fact that it'd be reflecting a lot of light. Your eyes wouldn't adjust, you'd see maybe the brightest stars.

And actually, that sun lens flare doesn't look bad at all. Without the Atmosphere between us and the sun, that's probably about what it'd look like without some kind of filter. To make it too big and detailed would make it look unrealistic.

LongeBane · Joined: 03 Feb 2003 Posts: 312 Location: Tomorrow

I dont think a star shines like a lens flare.

Linkmax · Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 9:46 pm Post subject:

If you look at it from a camera point of view, it does.

And next time, try to give better input than just a one liner, it doesn't really help.

Oh, and Giz. The moon was a last minute add-on, so I didn't expect it to be perfect, or even close for that matter.

Fenrir-Lunaris · **WUT** Joined: 03 Feb 2003 Posts: 1747

That sattelite is well within the Roche limit for an object of its size. Clearly though it and its planet are tidally locked to one another, so its certainly feasible that it COULD happen. It's probably not a stable configuration, although if the planet itself were small it should be. Kuiper belt objects and all. Is this Pluto?

Well done, I've always wanted to do this myself. Let's see some weather effects, storm fronts, hurricanes, and other effects.

Linkmax · Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 4:31 pm Post subject:

Thanks, I was thinking of making the moon crash into it when I get better at it.

And it's not based on any planet really.

Nepenthe · Joined: 27 Sep 2004 Posts: 132

If you looked at the sun through a camera, yes, you'd get a lense flare. The problem is that Photoshop's filter looks absolutely nothing like a lens flare.
_________________
My art (and random photos)!

LeRoy_Leo · Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 7:55 am Post subject:

Good point, Nep... I always wondered what bothered me about it.

You know; some say that Earth's moon was once this close to it, but it eventually spun out further and further. They say the moon gets 2 feet farther from Earth every year.
_________________
Planning Project Blood Summons, an MMORPG which will incinerate all of the others with it's sheer brilliance...

---msw188 ---
"Seriously James, you keep rolling out the awesome like gingerbread men on a horror-movie assembly line. "