Astronomy

Overview

Astronomy is the study of the stars, planets and other non terrestrial objects visible in the sky day and night. There are varying degrees of philosophical understandings of the phenomena.

The Slave at the Wheel [Mythological Viewpoint]

Every devout Waejiran knows the story of the slave at the wheel.

The Goddess Vorsha known to have a grand library containing all secrets and knowledge. A trove of information which she jealously guards, choosing when and to whom to dispense new discoveries or uncover a forgotten secret. Baileia, the goddess of travellers, roads and paths, lamented that the treahni who worshipped her had to struggle on foot, and horseback on their long journies. To fix the problem she tricked the god of the seasons, Qeisar, into stealing a bit of knowledge from Vorsha's library, something that could help the struggling travellers. Qeisar returned with the secret of the wheel, which was used to create conveyances, allowing the treahni to move at greater speeds, and carry larger burdens.

Naturally the theft was discovered, and the guilty party was punished. With a sense of irony the god Qeisar was yoked to a great ox-mill, upon which the sun rests. His eternal plodding in a circle turns the sun slowly on it's pedestal, and as the colder backside swings to face Entorais the winters comes with shorter days and cold, and again in the spring as the sun revolves further, the warmer side again comes to face the world, bringing warmer and longer days.

- Dustias Qeisarus, Priest of Qeisar

Dance of the Rings [Astronomical Viewpoint]

The planets are each suspended on invisible rings, like a single stone set upon a band of precious metal. The rings are all concentric, surrounding the sun, like the rings of a tree stump. The smaller rings spin much faster than the larger ones, due to the shorter circumference. As they spin the rings wobble, like a coins slowing down after being made to spin on a table. This up and down motion of the wobble accounts for the perceived changes in the height of the sun during the different seasons.

All this can be observed over time using fixed points of observation and keeping good records of the position of the sun, and other planets throughout the year.

- Bastaan Dar Ming, Third cousin, twice removed, of Alaric Dar Ming, the Khur of Iskander

See Also

Solar System