How blue is a blue star?

Thinkin' to set my novel on a planet circling the bright blue star
Spica (alpha-virginis), now on show in spring evenings. Now, the
question is how much blue light will illuminate the planet of this
star? I want to put some scenes of exotic, deep blue landscapes and the
like. (There can't be life there as such, but it's only fiction).

Would the brighness wash out all the color, or not? All answers
invited!

cheers, me deers!!

Starlight

"How blue is a blue star?

Thinkin' to set my novel on a planet
Circling the bright blue star
Spica (alpha-virginis),

Now on show
In spring evenings.

Now, the question ~
How much blue light will illuminate
The planet of this star?

I want to put some scenes
Of exotic, deep blue landscapes
And the like.

(There can't be life there
As such,
But it's only fiction).

Would the brightness wash out
All the color, or not?

All answers
Invited!

Cheers, me deers!!"

~ Starlight

"How blew Blew?
O deer, just ask ~ Ms.
Annie! Or Ms.

Fannie Brice, aka, Ms.
Barbara Streisand, if necessary!"
~ Folly

"This just
In ~"
~ Twittering

"Appealing workplaces are to be avoided.
One wants a room with no view,
So imagination can meet memory in the dark."
~ Anne Dillard

"If imagination meets memory
In the dark ~ Its dark memories dark ideas
And dark designs.
Dark is for sleeping."
~ george

"... and Darts,
That Morning Wood discotheque ~
For dancing in the dark ...

.... O, who's that wearing Dark Glasses,
Shady character, lurking over in the corner,
In the dark, at Darts?"
~ Twittering

"... care for
A 'lude?"
~ Jane

"O, Afternoon's Prelude
For a Faun, or L 'Images? Or Limoges
China? Or just ~ A cookie from Jane's Jungle
Kitchen? Why

Yes, don't mind if I do!
Merci.

Seen Mare, or
Marzipan? Or have you just ~ Papered The Place
Yourself?

.... and where's Elf,
Starring in our next Hampton Hound Ballet?

If we can't rustle up Elf,
Mica must dance ~ Must Star!"
~ Twittering

"O, yes, Jane
Knows Leonardo, well, as well, All
My
DeadE Back Bay Beacon ~ Street Boyz Makin' Lots ~ a ~ Noyz!

As well,
Jane knows ~

'TK ~
The Sequel:
93 Waltham Street'
A Truer Tale!

O, yes, Jane
Hung out with me & Leonardo

On Waltham Street! A Boston Chapter
Of This Tale Of Noir, or Woe."
~ Twittering

~ * ~

"... but on a clear
Day, you can see forever!"
~ Barbara

"... O, who's that wearing Dark Glasses,
Shady character, lurking in the corner,

Over in the dark, at Darts,
Corner of Dartmouth and Newbury?"
~ Twittering

"But on a clear night,
Twilight twinkles, you can see forever!"
~ Barbara

"How blue is a blue star,
You ask? Why not just go see

The Boston Flower Show!
They'll know! The Horticulturists know
Everything!"
~ Folly

"Thinkin' to set my novel on a planet
Circling the bright blue star
Spica (alpha-virginis),

Now on show
In spring evenings."
~ Starlight

"O ~ I know! Blew
Delphiniums!"
~ Twittering

"Now, the question ~
How much blue light will illuminate
The planet of this star?"
~ Starlight

"Call Ms.
Star Black ~ She'll know!
Star shoots celebrity photos!
Star knows all The Stars!"
~ Folly

"I want to put some scenes
Of exotic, deep blue landscapes
And the like."
~ Starlight

"The like,
What's that?"
~ Twittering

"You're aroused the lilacs and they brew violets
with inappropriate fluidity!"
~ Star Black

"Twittering ~ Viking
Penguin said call home!"
~ Folly

"What? A Viking, know ~ Never
Trust him! You never know about men.
But Penguins nice."
~ Twittering

"Who do you love?

Who do you love?"
~ Bo & Seymour

"Who do I love? I love Who,
My owl, and many, many more. Seen Ms.
Beebo Brinker?

Yes, me and Folly,
Birds of a feather ~ Dogs together,
Wandering the heather ~

For when we reach Morning Wood,
Our promises we'll keep!

Mama waits for us ..."
~ Twittering

~ * ~

"Cowboy logic,
Jan."
~ JJ Lodder

"Seen
Leonardo? Or Tom Robbins?
A hitchhiker we be, swimming the Shimmering Sea. Or Mr.

Steven Slough, a fine bud of ours,
And Ms.
Chake Najarian, so Highly Esteemed, too?

But O, if you know,
If you have contacts high above,
We must know ...

.... who murdered Ms.
Melody Mix, my bud Terry's sister?

I need to know ~ For a shotgun in her head,
No, not likely Melody

Could have shot herself
With a shotgun ~ No matter
What the police said! So know! Many thanks.

Gotta run!

O, seen Leonardo?
Blog, or dog? Who knows.

But if you see my lost pup, please bring him home!
I got Leon a brand-new bone.

Or perhaps,
We could hitch a ride, ride shotgun?"
~ Twittering

*

Shotgun ~ A short-range
Smoothbore gun that discharges
A load of small pellets. An offensive formation

In football, usually used when passing,
In which the quarterback receives the snap
A few yards back

Behind the line of scrimmage. Brought about
By pressure, threats, or force. Having
No clear design,

Purpose,
Or objective.

*

"No purpose?
O, heck, yeah, we do."
~ Folly

"O, yes, indeed, we do!
Yes, true, we have AD[Hi!]D, a Spectrum Disorder,

But heck ~ If you shift the mean,
We're just plain normal! A tall order
Folly and me were given ~ Find Leonardo! Seen
Him?"
~ Twittering

"Twittering, look ~
A porpoise!"
~ Folly

"No, Folly,
She's a dolphin ~ A delphinium!"
~ Twittering

"Or, if you wish ~
The Delphic Oracle."
~ Ms. Dolphin

"O, charmed, I'm sure.
My name's Folly."
~ Folly

"I'm Twittering."
~ Twittering

"How lovely to meet you both, Folly,
Twittering, following

Me along this sandy quartz beach ~

Also known
As the Far Reach of Knossos."
~ Dolphin

"Really? Folly
Told me, this, The Great Barrier Reef."
~ Twittering

"Golly,
Twittering, I guess I was wrong.
Please forgive me."
~ Folly

"No problem, Folly,
Don't worry.
We'll get there, we're just hugging the shore ...

Someone's shore ..."
~ Twittering

"Sure?"
~ Folly

"O, yeah.
Pretty sure.
~ Twittering

"Pretty shore,
Too!"
~ Folly

*

Starlight Best the planet has a humid atmosphere,and this will reflect
light back blue by scattering the light rays. Let the planet reflect
light back to look like a blue marble. Bert

"Starlight ~
Best the planet has a humid atmosphere,
And this will reflect
Light back blue

By scattering the light rays.
Let the planet reflect light back to you ~

Look ~
Like a blue marble!"
~ Bert

"Blue marble, or Blew Marlin?"
~ Folly

"Mr.
Marvin Hamlisch, or the Pied Piper
Of Hampton Township?"
~ Mer Loleil

"Crack my vessel,
Spout a leak? Pour, poor me, decant me?

Me, no more, now, no nothing more
I see ~
But liquid sky ...

An azure bleeding shimmering
Sea,

Just diffuse pigment,
Staining me? For all I see ~

Now ~ Just Morris Louis paintings unfurling!
Figure, ground? All's same,

Seems to me. Pigment wed
To canvas. Me inside my frame.

Or this ~
A blood stain?

Hymen, or ear's tympanum,
Drum broken,

A blood stain on
My pillow?

But, O,
My bed? Who knows me

Biblically?
Folly and me, O so, chaste,

So tired,
So tried and true!

Did someone put
A chastity belt on us?

Or a woven spell,
To keep us chaste, for a very long spell?

O, this shell, you say,
My telephone?

......................... Allo?
Mum?

Is this taught,
A lesson missed, never learned,
Over at The Goldfish School?

Please explain. I lost my marbles, or
Missed that day. Or was I merely napping,

Ignoring, hushing that Raven
Persistently tapping, rapping at my door?

Or perhaps, yes, more likely,
Did my mind, O know ~

Unravel
Me, undone.

O, for Folly told me
Someone whacked me over

Me head, ransacked
My bed, ran off hollerin' toward ~

The Holland Tunnel!
But Mum, my knapsack, now a bundle

Of tears
And fears.

So, if my head, still cracked ~
.... a China Wedgwood reparation I must
Pay, a border tax,

And what, if, too,

Folly and me get basted, stuffed, as well,
With Chivas Regal?"
~ Twittering

~ * ~

" ~ !
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
Marbles! Marbles! Marbles!
~ !"
~ Folly

"Lord Elgin ~
Where?"
~ Twittering

"'WOW!!
What a Ride!'"
~ Ann

"A New York Ride,
Perhaps, by
The Highly Esteemed ..."
~ Twittering

"He was one of those men who possess almost
Every gift,
Except the gift
Of the power to use them.
~ Charles Kingsley

"... he needed to heed
A Key, a Task ~ Master.

Or a tactful, masterful Twittering One,
Tacking tactfully,

Sailing into the wind
To win, looking for Holland, wind mills ~"
~ Twittering

"Where's the room with the Mummies,
And The Gallery of The Knight's

Armor

Who Dreams
Impossible Dreams?"
~ Folly

"Behind that door, over there,
That says ~

'Art Is Work,'
Over on East 32nd Street."
~ The Vacuum

"From far with thundering noise among our foes
Such implements of mischief as shall dash
To pieces, and orewhelm whatever stands
Adverse, that they shall fear we have disarmd
The Thunderer of his only dreaded bolt.
Nor long shall be our labour, yet ere dawn
Effect shall end our wish. Mean while revive;
Abandon fear; to strength and counsel joind
Think nothing hard, much less to be despaird."

~ Milton,
From "Paradise Lost."
Book VI, vs. 488 - 495

"Merci! Nice
Jacket.

Nice verse, too.
Did you rehearse?"
~ Folly

~ * ~

"Starlight-Starbright" wrote in message
ups.com...
Thinkin' to set my novel on a planet circling the bright blue star
Spica (alpha-virginis), now on show in spring evenings. Now, the
question is how much blue light will illuminate the planet of this
star? I want to put some scenes of exotic, deep blue landscapes and the
like. (There can't be life there as such, but it's only fiction).

Would the brighness wash out all the color, or not? All answers
invited!

cheers, me deers!!

Starlight


I assume we are talking about human eyes. I don't know much about alien life
form eyes.

Ever taken a photo indoors at night and not used a flash? Noticed when you
get the photos back everything is orange coloured?

Fact is, normal incandescent lights are very orange. Its just that your eyes
(or maybe your brain) automatically compensates and makes white things
white. This happens all the time in real life, whenever we move from one
type of light source to another. When we look at an indoor photo our brains
cannot compensate for just the photo, so we see the "real" colours.

This is your problem on alpha-virginis (BTW a great planet name). With human
eyes, however blue the light, our brains will immediately compensate and it
will be perceived as white. So no deep blue shadows.

In message , Peter Webb
writes

"Starlight-Starbright" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thinkin' to set my novel on a planet circling the bright blue star
Spica (alpha-virginis), now on show in spring evenings. Now, the
question is how much blue light will illuminate the planet of this
star? I want to put some scenes of exotic, deep blue landscapes and the
like. (There can't be life there as such, but it's only fiction).

Would the brighness wash out all the color, or not? All answers
invited!

cheers, me deers!!

Starlight


I assume we are talking about human eyes. I don't know much about alien life
form eyes.

Ever taken a photo indoors at night and not used a flash? Noticed when you
get the photos back everything is orange coloured?

Fact is, normal incandescent lights are very orange. Its just that your eyes
(or maybe your brain) automatically compensates and makes white things
white. This happens all the time in real life, whenever we move from one
type of light source to another. When we look at an indoor photo our brains
cannot compensate for just the photo, so we see the "real" colours.

This is your problem on alpha-virginis (BTW a great planet name). With human
eyes, however blue the light, our brains will immediately compensate and it
will be perceived as white. So no deep blue shadows.


About the only thing I can add is to note that a blue star isn't bright
blue, and although Spica is a double star, both components are
"blue-white" so there's no colour contrast.
BTW, "only fiction" is the wrong attitude. It should be as rigorous as
any other sort of writing. And don't feel inhibited about putting life
on your planet if it suits the plot, and the life is convincing. Hal
Clement, about the hardest of "hard SF" writers, had no problems with
life on a planet of Deneb, which is even hotter than Spica. Some people
may object that such a star has a very short life-span, but there are
ways round that too!
--
Remove spam and invalid from address to reply.

"Jonathan Silverlight" wrote
in message ...
In message , Peter Webb
writes

"Starlight-Starbright" wrote in message
roups.com...
Thinkin' to set my novel on a planet circling the bright blue star
Spica (alpha-virginis), now on show in spring evenings. Now, the
question is how much blue light will illuminate the planet of this
star? I want to put some scenes of exotic, deep blue landscapes and the
like. (There can't be life there as such, but it's only fiction).

Would the brighness wash out all the color, or not? All answers
invited!

cheers, me deers!!

Starlight


I assume we are talking about human eyes. I don't know much about alien
life
form eyes.

Ever taken a photo indoors at night and not used a flash? Noticed when you
get the photos back everything is orange coloured?

Fact is, normal incandescent lights are very orange. Its just that your
eyes
(or maybe your brain) automatically compensates and makes white things
white. This happens all the time in real life, whenever we move from one
type of light source to another. When we look at an indoor photo our
brains
cannot compensate for just the photo, so we see the "real" colours.

This is your problem on alpha-virginis (BTW a great planet name). With
human
eyes, however blue the light, our brains will immediately compensate and
it
will be perceived as white. So no deep blue shadows.


About the only thing I can add is to note that a blue star isn't bright
blue, and although Spica is a double star, both components are
"blue-white" so there's no colour contrast.
BTW, "only fiction" is the wrong attitude. It should be as rigorous as any
other sort of writing. And don't feel inhibited about putting life on your
planet if it suits the plot, and the life is convincing. Hal Clement,
about the hardest of "hard SF" writers, had no problems with life on a
planet of Deneb, which is even hotter than Spica. Some people may object
that such a star has a very short life-span, but there are ways round that
too!
--
Remove spam and invalid from address to reply.

About the only thing *I* can add to this is that I know for a fact that the
higher energy radiation (blue and UV) on alpha-virginus has caused the
evolution of silicon based lifeforms that essentially use photovoltaic cells
instead of chlorophyll, and pizeoelectric effect instead of muscles. They
consider Carbon based life (if they consider it at all) to be somewhat icky.

When you visit alpha-virginus (as I have many times) you can't read the
street signs because alpha-virginians can only see in the UV and so there
signs use only UV colours - you are currently getting lost.

HTH

Peter Webb