Seasons, Equinoxes and Solstices

[Sal]

They may finally be official!

Some things to note with this thread:

1. My assumption is that Siora has four widely recognized seasons, same as Earth.  Your nation or culture may recognize more or fewer seasons based on the climate of your nation, but these four official seasons are going to be oriented on the following daylight-based indicators:

• The Vernal (Spring) Equinox
  
• The Summer Solstice
  
• The Autumnal Equinox
  
• The Winter Solstice
  

It's kind of strange to think about official seasons as being based on amount (or lack) of daylight as opposed to changes in weather and precipitation since I think many of us think about it in the sense of the latter being the case, so to break it out for anyone who's never given it much thought, consider a near-polar community which experiences extreme shifts in daylight.  The season "spring" begins when the amount of daylight finally equals the amount of darkness as you come out of winter.  The season "summer" begins on the day with the longest amount of daylight in the year (usually the first "midnight sun" or 24 hours of daylight in a near-polar community).  The season "autumn" begins when the amount of darkness finally equals the amount of daylight as you come out of summer.  The season "winter" begins on the day with the least amount of sunlight of the year ("polar night" or 24 hours of night in a near-polar community).  


2. The seasons in Siora were probably decided by someone in the northern hemisphere, same as Earth.  This is arbitrary, but I'm working off this assumption just the same.


3. I'm basing my timing of the seasons on the fact that we have a month named Vintyr, which clearly translates to "Winter".


4. A season in Siora lasts 98 days, or 3.5 calendar months.  My methodology wasn't astronomically based in any way.  I did the following:

Total Days per Year/Number of Seasons = Days per Season

or

392/4 = 98

If you want to come at me with "um, Sal, but the tilt of Siora's axis and the fact that its orbit is an ellipse and not a circle means that months should be x, y, and z..." then I am good with that, please let me know.  


5. Seasons in the northern and southern hemispheres are direct opposites.  When the north pole is having midsummer, the south pole is having midwinter.


...

So anyway, here are the proposed seasons with beginning and end dates for both the Northern and Southern hemispheres:

Northern Hemisphere

Spring: Marth 15 - Zechyr 28
Summer: Septem 1 - Dein 14
Autumn: Dein 15 - Treizen 28
Winter: Vintyr 1 - Marth 14


Southern Hemisphere

Spring: Dein 15 - Treizen 28
Summer: Vintyr 1 - Marth 14
Autumn: Marth 15 - Zechyr 28
Winter: Septem 1 - Dein 14

[Rommy]

HLE probably came up with it *nods* cultural dominance or somethin something

[Ayzek]

I CONSENT.

Unless Zab wants to come in and break down our months/seasons using the Universe Sandbox simulation we have.

But otherwise, I CONSENT.

[Zabuza825]

We should double checks something before we do this, because if I remember correctly in the US2 simulation the number of days in a year was set to a different number.

That is something we would need to account for both in our RP calendar and in our model of the seasons.

But as for the months and days when the seasons end/starts: calendar systems can be pretty arbitrary sometimes so it makes perfect sense.

However, this would have the effect of making Siora's calendar a completely solar calendar - a calendar that does NOT take into effect the phases of the moon. If we're okay with this, then there should be no problem. Just thought I should bring it up though.

Only thing is, let people make their own calendars for their countries if they want to. I don't think anyone will object to this, but I thought it should bring it up.

Anyway, main point is, before making this official let me go check some numbers.

[Ayzek]

I want 392 days, so it'd be best to bend the simulation to our will.

Yes, you can make your own calendar for your country. This is the official international calendar though.

[Ayzek]

I've half-assedly added Sal's suggestion to the calendar thing. We can update it whenever Zab or anyone adds science and junk to it.