Throughout my school life, lo so many years ago, I was always shown maps of the Solar System as a series of ellipses orbiting the Sun, which doesn’t move. Of course, even in the 70’s it was understood that the Sun does move – I remember being taught that the Sun, and indeed the whole Solar System does move, at some tens of thousands of miles an hour, cruising through the Milky Way’s outer arm. Of course, the Milky Way Galaxy also moves at some absurd clip which we were taught would bring the Milky Way into a collusion with its nearest galactic neighbor some millions or billions of years in the future. I recall seeing a very early computer simulation of this event, where the two galaxies pass through each other and spin off eddies of star systems in an unbelievable ballet. However, the true nature of the orbits of the planets and how complex they actually are escaped me until recently when I saw this:
You see this and suddenly it become viscerally clear that *nothing* in the Universe stays still. Note that there are some inaccuracies in the video, such as the idea that the solar system isn’t heliocentric, and that the planets “follow the sun” (sometimes they orbit ahead). Also, if you follow the links, you’ll find a second video which shows the solar system corkscrewing around the milky way (moves more like a horse on a carousel, and moves above and below the plane 4 times per rotation, and takes about 10% the number of years he claims), still, it’s an interesting and thought-provoking visualization.
In the Universe of Secret Society Wars, though, there is stillness. Last night the Triad Cabbal held control of the universe for 7 straight days against determined Oddfellow attack and finally won the War of Cycle 19, a game cycle that clocked in at just under 4 months. Now a period of Anarchy follows as I begin rewriting all of the starter quests to make them more nub-friendly and better at training new players in what the game is actually about and how to play it and win it. Cycle 20 is slated to start in May or Early June.
… feeling dizzy!
Really neat visualization video. I watched part 2 as well AND a simulation of the predicted Andromeda–Milky Way collision that will occur in about 4 billion years. Probably not something I need to worry – the stars involved in the galactic collision are so far apart that it is improbable that they will individually collide.
Congratulations(?) on the conclusion of SSW Cycle 19 (I’m not sure what the proper sentiments should be in this situation) and good luck(?) with Cycle 20.