Showing posts with label murdering the classics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label murdering the classics. Show all posts

Friday, August 12, 2011

On the Motion of the Moon in the Margaret Wise Brown Classic "Goodnight Moon"

Please observe the following composite image, taken from several different exposures of the moon.


It is clear from the non-linear motion of the moon across the sky that the orbit of the moon is not a simple ellipse. This is probably because the planet inhabited by the race of sentient bunny-like aliens (henceforth: Planet Bun) is probably in a non-stable multi-body system. It likely involves multiple other moons, planets, and potentially stars, although we can clearly see from the view out this window that the stars must all be opposite Planet Bun from the observer. The intense gravitational forces from the other unseen bodies of the system must steer the moon in a strange path, and not in an elliptical orbit around Planet Bun.

Also, based on the fact that the pattern of the  background stars changes so rapidly between each exposure, we can conclude that Planet Bun itself must be orbiting or rotating at a very high velocity. In fact, the "moon" may not be a satellite of Planet Bun at all. It could very well be a double planet or, judging by the lack of surface features, a white dwarf star that Planet Bun itself is orbiting. In fact, judging by just how quickly Planet Bun's view of the background stars changes, it may be quite likely that the "moon" is in fact a neutron star, which Planet Bun orbits in hours or minutes. The orbital distance is likely quite close in order for a small star to have such a high angular diameter.

Note also how the apparent motion of the "moon"-like neutron star speeds up between the fixed-interval exposures. This is likely because Planet Bun is in a highly-elliptical orbit and it is approaching perigee, causing the vast orbital speed increase.