Star Gazer notices a celestial freak of nature.

As you very well know the hardest part for me about developing the TSC was the atmospheres each of the twenty or so planets would have. I delved deep into research about habitable zones for G2 stars finding them to be about 200 AU, escape velocity, AU's from the star and still I was at a loss. I then stumbled upon a great book called a guide to extraterrestrials which had full detailed information and pictures of ET's used in previous science fiction. What I read was useful but not at first. Each habitat seemed to be earth like only with unpredicatble seasons such as in Poul Andersons FIRE TIME! I was still not feeling well and then made an epiphany. Many a hard SF writer has used an enabling device going as far to use FTL travel and things such as that. But the idea that came to me would both be an enabling device and a plot device. The TSC itself was a celestial freak of neature to start with being that it is three G2 stars lined up in relative close proximity to one another, all support life and now seemingly all of the living planets are slightly if not very O2 based. It may sound fishy but it actually plays into the story as to why Astronomy is so heavily restricted. If O2 atmospheres seem to be the most common and they support life then the univerese is teeming with threatning creatures every which way. Of course this is the view of politicians who are just afraid of what maybe will be out "there". But don't worry not all of the planets are like our own. Three are but that is meant partially as a joke to humans seeing as how we so desperatly are looking for at least one and here they are scattered everywhere. Some of the planets have things like chlorine and all sorts of things. I also made sure to have Gas Giants and dwarf planets and habitable moons (for some anyway).

In other news last night I was waiting on PBS for them to show my favorite episode of Doctor Who The Deadly Assassin but sadly they decided to switch up the line upand insteaqd showed one of my least favorite stories The Brian of Morbius which is just plain embarrasing. But while waiting I came upon the little show Star Gazer which is the one in which an older gentleman sits on the rings of Saturn and tells you what Astronomical events will be occuring soon. What I noticed about him is that he no doubt has a hair piece on. The other thing that was strange was that he was speaking about an ancient roman who was roasted alive and the guy had an enormous smile on his face. But it is cool that on monday from 3 am to dawn Earth will be going through the remnants of a coment and Meteores galore supposedly.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=f_aGl0WOOZc