The Chronicles of Local Space

A fictional exploration of nearby star systems

Promethean Calendar

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Overview of the Promethean Calendar
Calendar Name Promethean Calendar
World Prometheus
Epoch 2387 May 30 SCE
Days in year 360
Average length of calendar year 360 Standard days
Months in year 12
Days in week 6
Perpetual calendar Yes
Unbroken week Yes
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Promethean Month
Week I II III IV V VI
varies 1 2 3 4 5 6
varies 7 8 9 10 11 12
varies 13 14 15 16 17 18
varies 19 20 21 22 23 24
varies 25 26 27 28 29 30
Month Names
  1. Aries
  2. Taurus
  3. Gemini
  4. Cancer
  5. Leo
  6. Virgo
  1. Libra
  2. Scorpius
  3. Sagittarius
  4. Capricornus
  5. Aquarius
  6. Pisces

The Promethean calendar is used by the colony of Prometheus. This calendar uses twelve 30-day months with five weeks of six days each, giving a year with 360 days. There is no intercalation.

The year of the calendar does not correspond to one revolution of Prometheus around its local sun because Prometheus does not have perceptible seasons, it is a tidelocked world without a day-night cycle, and the natural year of Prometheus is far too short to be the base for a calendar (just 19.56 Standard days). Because Prometheus is a tidelocked world, the motion of the local sun and the stars that usually mark the day and year are absent. Without convenient natural time units, artificial time units must be employed.

Earth calendars were not chosen as a standard on Prometheus because the people that settled on Prometheus were pioneers that wanted to start a new life on a new world. The early settlers wanted a life on their own world, free from reminders of Earth. They chose to discard Earth-based conventions such as the Standard Calendar of Earth and they created a new calendar to suit their needs.

The seven-day week was discarded in favour of a six-day week. Six-day weeks can be evenly subdivided into two and three-day periods, whereas the seven day week cannot be subdivided because seven is a prime number. The only positive integer less than ten that does not divide evenly into 360 is seven, which does make the calendar awkward to use for members of the Abrahamic faiths. However, people who worship these religions tend not to settle on Prometheus because there are other colony worlds that do possess a seven-day week.

The Epoch of the Calendar (Aries 1 Year 1) is equivalent to 2387 June 1 (Gregorian) and Julian Day 2593044.5. The length of each day is 1 Standard Day.

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Aries   Taurus   Gemini   Cancer
Week I II III IV V VI   Week I II III IV V VI   Week I II III IV V VI   Week I II III IV V VI
1 1 2 3 4 5 6   6 1 2 3 4 5 6   11 1 2 3 4 5 6   16 1 2 3 4 5 6
2 7 8 9 10 11 12   7 7 8 9 10 11 12   12 7 8 9 10 11 12   17 7 8 9 10 11 12
3 13 14 15 16 17 18   8 13 14 15 16 17 18   13 13 14 15 16 17 18   18 13 14 15 16 17 18
4 19 20 21 22 23 24   9 19 20 21 22 23 24   14 19 20 21 22 23 24   19 19 20 21 22 23 24
5 25 26 27 28 29 30   10 25 26 27 28 29 30   15 25 26 27 28 29 30   20 25 26 27 28 29 30
 
Leo   Virgo   Libra   Scorpius
Week I II III IV V VI   Week I II III IV V VI   Week I II III IV V VI   Week I II III IV V VI
21 1 2 3 4 5 6   26 1 2 3 4 5 6   31 1 2 3 4 5 6   36 1 2 3 4 5 6
22 7 8 9 10 11 12   27 7 8 9 10 11 12   32 7 8 9 10 11 12   37 7 8 9 10 11 12
23 13 14 15 16 17 18   28 13 14 15 16 17 18   33 13 14 15 16 17 18   38 13 14 15 16 17 18
24 19 20 21 22 23 24   29 19 20 21 22 23 24   34 19 20 21 22 23 24   39 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 25 26 27 28 29 30   30 25 26 27 28 29 30   35 25 26 27 28 29 30   40 25 26 27 28 29 30
 
Sagittarius   Capricornus   Aquarius   Pisces
Week I II III IV V VI   Week I II III IV V VI   Week I II III IV V VI   Week I II III IV V VI
41 1 2 3 4 5 6   46 1 2 3 4 5 6   51 1 2 3 4 5 6   56 1 2 3 4 5 6
42 7 8 9 10 11 12   47 7 8 9 10 11 12   52 7 8 9 10 11 12   57 7 8 9 10 11 12
43 13 14 15 16 17 18   48 13 14 15 16 17 18   53 13 14 15 16 17 18   58 13 14 15 16 17 18
44 19 20 21 22 23 24   49 19 20 21 22 23 24   54 19 20 21 22 23 24   59 19 20 21 22 23 24
45 25 26 27 28 29 30   50 25 26 27 28 29 30   55 25 26 27 28 29 30   60 25 26 27 28 29 30

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