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Vega & Orin

3 · Timeline

The night, by the sky and the clock

From the vows at dusk to the arch at eleven. Drag through the evening and the sky over the deck turns with it, as it will on the night. Tap a star for its name.

The sky and the night, live

Over the deck 7:30 PM

The night has not started yet. This is what comes first:

That was the night. Thank you for coming up the mountain.

T−—d —h to the vowsMarried on the deck.Before the night

Dragging moves the clock for you only, to show how the page follows the night. The sky is the real one for that minute.

The observation deck, empty, looking west over the ridges, in the light of the minute you have dragged to.
The deck, from golden hour to night

T−01:00 to T+06:00

The running order

    Vega and Orin at the head of the long dinner table under the dome, in their wedding clothes, smiling at each other, candle lamps and white flowers along the table, the dome's shutter open behind them onto the stars and the mountains.
    T+01:30 · the feast under the dome

    What the sky does

    The other running order

    1. At dusk Vega stands 62° up in the north-west, the first bright star out over the deck.
    2. About 9:45 PM Orion’s belt rises in the east, three stars in a short straight line.
    3. About 10:30 PM the belt is clear of the ridge, and the Orionid meteors start to fall from near Orion’s raised club. Look east, away from the lamps.
    4. 11:00 PM the arch of light, while Vega is still above the hills.
    5. About 11:40 PM Vega sets behind the ridge as the last shuttles go down.
    6. The moon at eight: computed for the year.
    At night outside the dome door, the guests in two rows holding light swords raised and crossed overhead in ice white, amber and pale gold, Vega and Orin walking out beneath them hand in hand.
    T+05:30 · the arch of light
    Inside the dome at night, set for dinner: long white tables curving round the old telescope pier, amber candle lamps, the shutter slit open to the stars.

    If it clouds over

    The dome shows the sky it hides

    October is the end of the rains in Benguet. If cloud comes up the valley, the vows move under the dome, the slit stays shut, and the dome’s projector shows the same sky the clouds are hiding, star for star. The arch happens inside, under the projected sky.

    See it on the cover: What if it’s cloudy?