Kronia web page image analysis

In response to the analysis of the Aeon home page image, which showed that it was not possible as depicted, Ev Cochrane remarked that these and similar images were meant only as an artistic rendition, not a serious attempt at visualization.

But recently, David Talbott said

From: dtalbott@teleport.com (David N. Talbott)
Date: 24 Aug 96 01:42:55 GMT
Message-ID: <dtalbott.840850975@kelly>

As a first visual reference, I suggest that you take a look at the
illustration on the Kronia Communications website.

                   http://www.teleport.com/~kronia/

To me, this seems to indicate, at least as a first aproximation, Talbott intends those images to be a correct visualization. Here are the images in question (copied here for reference)

One might immediately wonder what mechanism causes the extensive "ray" phenomenon in the left image, and one can quibble about the implications shadow placement and depth has for illumination source, but mainly I'm discussing relative sizes and placements, so using the formulae from the previous analysis of the Aeon home page, we get this table

    "fogscape"
          planet          pixels   approx radius    distance ratio
            saturn           58        60000 km         1.000
            venus            11         6000 km         0.527
            mars              9         3400 km         0.365
    "liongate"
          planet          pixels   approx radius    distance ratio
            saturn           71        60000 km         1.000
            venus            16         6000 km         0.444
            mars             32         3400 km         0.125

At the distances Ev cites for this (about half-a-million to a million kilometers) the saturn disk will span less than 10 degrees of the view, and we see from the "fogscape" image (on the left) that we are therefore within 10 degrees of the equator. Yet, the fogscape image has everything perfectly aligned, and the liongate imate (to the right above) has saturn and venus perfectly aligned.

Let's re-project these from where they had to be, according to the image. We get these revised schematic images:

Ev did claim that the juxtaposition of the image with the horizon was only for visual interest. So let's do a reprojection of those two images from 45 degrees.

My conclusion is, these images are not noticeably better than the images from the Aeon home page, and Ted Holden's catastrophism page. They are projected with sizes and mars offsets as seen from about 45 degrees, but the movement of images offcenter when viewed from anywhere but the pole is rather pointedly ignored (except for the desired effect of "mars descending"), and the placement near the horizon is inaccurate and misleading.

Specifically, it looks like the kronia "fogscape" image was projected as it would appear from the pole, and inserted in the landscape as it would appear from within 10 degrees of the equator, and the "liongate" image was projected as it might appear from about 45 degrees WRT mars, but from the pole WRT venus. In fact, when I project according to these errors, I get the images below. I think they match splendidly with the originals, making it clear how the Kronia web page images were (mis)produced.

If/when the images are viewed from the pole as dictated by the portrayed alignment, while they remain symmetrical, mars doesn't "descend", it simply blots out venus, like so

Without comment on the dynamics, the "liongate" image is the more plausible of the two; one could be looking up at about 45 degrees at an overshadowing rock outcrop. The "fogscape" is unambiguously on the horizon, and the alignment is unambiguously from the pole. The "fogscape" image is thus self-contradictory.

In short, these images simply can't occur with the degree of symmetry and centering with which Talbott routinely portrays them.

References to prior work :
http://www.geo.ucalgary.ca/~macrae/t_origins/v_models/v_models.html
http://sheol.org/throopw/aeonHome-image-analysis.html
http://sheol.org/throopw/polar-offset.html
http://sheol.org/throopw/polar-mars-descend.html

Last edited Sat Aug 24 17:05:14 1996 - Last generated Sat Aug 24 17:05:15 1996