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Question about the physics of the Taldain system. It was complicated enough with one sun, one tidally locked planet, and one moon that always rotates around the light/dark terminus. How does a binary system work with this? From what I understand, the L1 point (aka the barycenter) between the two stars is extremely unstable. Any kind of jiggle to the rotations or gravity of the system and the planet spins off into space or crashes into one of the stars. Judging from the sketch of the system, we have the two suns in a near-circular orbit (very difficult). And Taldain in the gravitational center of the binary system, with a rotational period that exactly matches the orbits of the stars? And that still doesn't explain the orbit of the moon, which should stay the same no matter which direction the planet itself is facing. It seems to be an extreme balancing act. I suppose Investiture could account for it, but I kinda hate to see this hand-waved away as "magic," since from what I understand of Brandon, he tries to keep as close to actual physics as possible (red/blue shifts not withstanding ). Does anyone smarter than me have a good explanation?
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- tidal lock
- taldain
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