At one point in the Original Series, Spock tells Uhura that the planet
Vulcan does not have a moon.
As we all know, however, if Vulcan doesn't have a moon, it is hard to
account for that whacking great thing in the sky on Vulcan as Spock
undergoes _fal tor pan_ on Vulcan in "The Search for Spock".

At the time, I thought that there was a clear and simple resolution to
this Star Trek mystery. That thing in Vulcan's sky was so large that,
clearly, Vulcan doesn't have a moon... Vulcan _is_ a moon.
Of course, though, that theory, however much it might save Star Trek continuity, is in violation of the basic laws of physics.
The moon-like object in Vulcan's sky doesn't look like, say, the gas
giant planet Jupiter. It is pockmarked by craters. So, clearly, it is
airless, which means that it has to be smaller than Vulcan, which
_does_ have a breathable atmosphere.

Thus, after a bit more thought, I've come up with a resolution to this
mystery. Now we can say that Spock didn't lie... he only "exaggerated
a little". Or, more specifically, he _oversimplified_.
If Vulcan's moon is so huge in the sky, but it's still small enough to
be airless - and, indeed, it doesn't even have _maria_ on its surface
- maybe it's even smaller than Earth's Moon. Say, about the size of
Ceres.
And so, unlike Earth's Moon, it orbits rather close to Vulcan... and
is only visible within, say, perhaps something like about 20 degrees
from Vulcan's equator. So, if one lives in Vulcan's temperate zones
instead of its tropics - which is a good idea, since we have it on
good authority in the canon that Vulcan is a rather warm place -
you'll never see a moon in the sky.

There you go. A planet Vulcan that can "have no moon" even though one
can see a great big one in the sky from at least some parts of it.
Of course, though, another explanation has already been proposed -
some have suggested the Earth-Moon system ought to instead be called a
"double planet", since our Moon, relative to its primary, is far
larger in relative size than the moons of either Mars or the gas
giants... so, at least one person suggested that with Vulcan's moon
being even larger, Vulcan could have a sister planet, not a moon, in
the sky.

John Savard

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-10-07 16:21:53 +0000, John Savard said:

At one point in the Original Series, Spock tells Uhura that the planet
Vulcan does not have a moon.

As we all know, however, if Vulcan doesn't have a moon, it is hard to
account for that whacking great thing in the sky on Vulcan as Spock
undergoes _fal tor pan_ on Vulcan in "The Search for Spock".

"That's no moon. It's a space station." ... oops! Wrong franchise. ;-)

At the time, I thought that there was a clear and simple resolution to
this Star Trek mystery. That thing in Vulcan's sky was so large that, clearly, Vulcan doesn't have a moon... Vulcan _is_ a moon.
Of course, though, that theory, however much it might save Star Trek continuity, is in violation of the basic laws of physics.
The moon-like object in Vulcan's sky doesn't look like, say, the gas
giant planet Jupiter. It is pockmarked by craters. So, clearly, it is airless, which means that it has to be smaller than Vulcan, which
_does_ have a breathable atmosphere.

Thus, after a bit more thought, I've come up with a resolution to this mystery. Now we can say that Spock didn't lie... he only "exaggerated
a little". Or, more specifically, he _oversimplified_.
If Vulcan's moon is so huge in the sky, but it's still small enough to
be airless - and, indeed, it doesn't even have _maria_ on its surface
- maybe it's even smaller than Earth's Moon. Say, about the size of
Ceres.
And so, unlike Earth's Moon, it orbits rather close to Vulcan... and
is only visible within, say, perhaps something like about 20 degrees
from Vulcan's equator. So, if one lives in Vulcan's temperate zones
instead of its tropics - which is a good idea, since we have it on
good authority in the canon that Vulcan is a rather warm place -
you'll never see a moon in the sky.

There you go. A planet Vulcan that can "have no moon" even though one
can see a great big one in the sky from at least some parts of it.
Of course, though, another explanation has already been proposed -
some have suggested the Earth-Moon system ought to instead be called a "double planet", since our Moon, relative to its primary, is far
larger in relative size than the moons of either Mars or the gas
giants... so, at least one person suggested that with Vulcan's moon
being even larger, Vulcan could have a sister planet, not a moon, in
the sky.

John Savard

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)