LmL Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Hello ASOIAF friends and family! http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/is-there-a-secret-astronomy-story-in-game-of-thrones-150701.htm A space and science journalist for DiscoveryNews.com, Elizabeth Howell, has taken an interest in my idea of a hidden astronomy backstory in ASOIAF, which is the premise for several theories I have written here on the forums (links in my signature). Elizabeth wrote an article back in 2012 about the red comet, so about a month ago I reached out to her to see if she might be able to put me in touch with an astronomy professional to have a look at my theory and give me some feedback from that perspective. Instead, she thought it would be good for an article for DiscoveryNews.com, which I was totally shocked by. We did an interview last week by phone, and now... well, it's on DiscoveryNews.com! :eek: Of course I talked about the forums and the Westeros community, and how it has been instrumental in developing my essays. Elizabeth kindly included links to Westeros.org at the bottom, although I wish there some of the comments I made about the forums would have been included (naturally the editor chooses what to put in the article). Still, the links are to Westeros.org, and and I consider this a win for the entire forum community here, as my essays were born out of the forums and would not exist without them and all the people who have commented and contributed to my research. :bowdown: Just to name a few: Durran Durrandon, J Stargaryen, Mithras, Evolett, Crowfood's Daughter, Equilibrium, Voice of the First Men, Blind Beth the Cat Lady, Mychel_Redfort, KingMonkey, Pain Killer Jane, and many, many others too numerous to name. Thanks to everyone who participated. :cheers: A giant thank you to Elio and Linda and all the moderators and behind-the-scenes folks here at Westeros.org. This forum is a resource which has enhanced all of our lives tremendously, and I don't know if they are thanked enough for it. I know everyone who uses this forum is grateful for all their hard work, and I know I certainly am. Thanks tremendously, guys! :bowdown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Blackmont Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Congratulations! You deserved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Mac Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Your work has been great. Congratulations :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibzit Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Grats! :bowdown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted July 9, 2015 Author Share Posted July 9, 2015 Thanks guys!If I am not crazy, and my theories are even slightly barking up the right tree, then of course the credit goes to George R. R. Martin for being so damn clever. I am just hoping to follow the trail and point others at the trailhead so everyone can enjoy what he has done here. Again, if I am not crazy, then George is really doing something amazing, worthy of attention. If I hallucinated the whole thing, then I have my own mediocre fantasy novel to write, I suppose. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordImp Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Congrats and great work! Im sure a lot of your stuff will turn out to be right . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneandonlypostguy Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Congratulations, the evidence and work put into these posts was done with hard work, always enjoy reading your posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon's Queen Consort Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 That is great! Congratulations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julia H. Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Congratulations, LmL! :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nozlym Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 wow thats awesome man congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarkofWinterfell Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Nice job getting recognition from your theories! I wouldn't be surprised if GRRM weighed in on it at some point. However, I've always thought that the planet had a long elliptical orbit giving it it's long summers and winters. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted July 9, 2015 Author Share Posted July 9, 2015 Congratulations, LmL! :cheers: It's totally crazy. I just emailed her, thinking to get a scientist to look over my stuff and offer corrections or clarifications in the instances I am citing anything scientific, and she was like "I think I can use this." To which I was all "huh whut now?" And here we are. I'll now wait patently for an email from George R. R. Martin. (lol) Will it be the "wow, you are totally insane bro" email? Or the "hey nice job, you're on the right track" email? Yeah, probably neither. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julia H. Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 It's totally crazy. I just emailed her, thinking to get a scientist to look over my stuff and offer corrections or clarifications in the instances I am citing anything scientific, and she was like "I think I can use this." To which I was all "huh whut now?" And here we are. I'll now wait patently for an email from George R. R. Martin. (lol) Will it be the "wow, you are totally insane bro" email? Or the "hey nice job, you're on the right track" email? Yeah, probably neither. This was indeed my first thought after reading the article: The next step should be to get Martin to say something about the theory. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted July 9, 2015 Author Share Posted July 9, 2015 Nice job getting recognition from your theories! I wouldn't be surprised if GRRM weighed in on it at some point. However, I've always thought that the planet had a long elliptical orbit giving it it's long summers and winters. What do you think? Well, the tricky part is that George has said there is a "magical explanation" for the long seasons. When I did my first essay, many put forth various physics-based ideas to explain the seasons, including an elliptical orbit. But then someone mentioned the SSM stating it has a magic answer, and that it cannot be explained purely through physics. Now, on the other hand, magical forces in ASOIAF seem like magical personifications of nature forces - the Others come with the howling cold winds of winter and the Long Night itself, the dragons are fire made flesh, the weirwood tree magic from those who sing the songs of earth, etc. This leads me to believe what we are talking about is some joined of magic and nature. It's almost as if Martin has taken ancient man's habit of personifying nature forces and astronomical bodies as gods and divine forces thought mythology and made it REAL, to an extent. The comet itself seems to be magical, and I have hypothesized that we had an ice and fire moon, also magical, which had something to do with ice and fire magic on Planetos. Thus, a magical comet destroying a magical moon causes physical and magical fallout, which seems to fit what we know about the Long Night. Essentially, we could end up dealing with an elliptical orbit or weird axial tilt or anything else, but they would have been brought about my magical acts, have had magical consequences, and will likely be "fixed" or righted by magical acts as well. In the end this is fantasy, and the characters are the most important thing, so it makes sense that it will come down to the choices made by our main players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted July 9, 2015 Author Share Posted July 9, 2015 This was indeed my first thought after reading the article: The next step should be to get Martin to say something about the theory. ;) Paging Ran to the front desk, Ran to the front desk... anyone know the correct summoning spell for Ran? I have my crystals laid out over my copy of TWOIAF, and I have all the gemstones - amethyst, opal, tourmaline, bloodstone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetsunray Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 :cheers: Congrats!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LmL Posted July 9, 2015 Author Share Posted July 9, 2015 :cheers: Congrats!!!!!!! Could have easily added your name to the contributors, sweetsunray, thanks for your ideas and participation throughout. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetsunray Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 I've been communicating with you only for the past 2 weeks, and only have been getting deeper insights myself the past 2 weeks. You are doing a great job! The funny thing is, I'm actually studying for a second bachelor, after my previous master... in physics (at the moment my subjects are astronomy, relativity, quantum and electromagnetism) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Martin Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Very cool and congrats! This says a lot about the universality of the human experience. For there to be so many overlapping themes, imagery, motifs, symbolism and experiences between GRRM's world, the real one and all of the fan's experiences - really takes a masterful hand.... kudos to you and GRRM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcotron Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 I'm a little disappointed that Russell Deitrick just said "it’s pretty unlikely that a comet would have the force to destroy a moon (it’s a small object crashing into a very big one)" and likewise "it’s unlikely that" this and "is skeptical that" that. It sounds like he just assumed that, given that a straightforward collision of the type L=L implied is impossible, splintering the moon in a very-low-impact collision so that debris then falls out of orbit irregularly over millennia must be the scenario, which then also directly explains the seasons (each winter caused by intrasystem meteor showers), and then worked out how unlikely that is. Which is interesting, but it's not really L=L's scenario, and it's not the only potential way to modify the scenario so it doesn't wipe out all life, so it doesn't tell us as much as I'd have hoped. I've mentioned that a comet passing ridiculously through the ionosphere and hitting the moon from behind and below might mean most of the debris doesn't come crashing down. What are the odds of that? I have no idea how to work them out. A hollow moon makes everything a lot easier--and L=L has thought of a few different similar scenarios to my hollow moon, which I don't think work as well, but which are worth considering as well for someone who knows how to do the math. And so on. I'd live to see what a real astrophysicist makes of those possibilities. Still, despite those disappointments, and despite the fact that I still don't think this is GRRM's intended myth, it's still very cool to see. Not just cool for L=L, but, as the article implies, if it gets a tiny fraction of the wide pool of GoT watchers interested in astronomy (or mythology or anything beyond TV), that's a pretty nice outcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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