What are Stars in MLP?

[SteveMorison 404]

It seems that the MLP Universe is very Equestria/Earth centric, with Celestia and Luna raising the sun and moon. This begs the question what is the actual nature of stars. Are they still the giant distant balls of fire they are in real life, are there still billions x billions of them in existence, or are they of a different nature that is more pony-centric. Do they possess magic? Is Astrology a thing in Equestria?

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,298]

They could potentially be countless star systems with a singular planet that supports life orbiting them, with Equestrian species on them too and two equivalents to the Royal Sisters on each of them. With that, Astrology could definitely be a thing. At least, I hope so, that is one of my favorite subject. :3

[Dust and Memories 557]

My personal headcanon is that stars in MLP are just like those in our world. Luna has some degree of control over all the stars that are naturally visible to ponies, but outside that sphere of influence, stars work the same as in our world. I expect this is more about a range thing with Luna's powers; even being an immortal alicorn with an immense amount of amicomagical strength, it's extremely hard to gather enough energy to warp space-time to your will, especially at intersolar distances. (Which, now that I think about it, are likely far shorter in MLP than in the real world.)

 

As for Celestia moving the sun, I would actually argue that her moving the sun is inefficient. If she moves the sun instead of the planet, it would also explain the whole concept of Winter Wrap-Up and various other sundries like the Running of the Leaves, as seasons won't progress normally if you're moving the sun around the planet instead of the planet around the sun. Then there's the whole issue of axis tilt, which Equus may not have.

[Makazi 317]

I've got a theory that they live in some sort of post-apocalyptic future where the Earth doesn't spin anymore, so instead of raising the sun and moon, what they're actually doing is spinning the globe. Since the Earth isn't constantly rotating (only when Celestia and Luna do it), weather patterns would be highly irregular, which is why the pegasi have weather factories and are responsible for moving the clouds. This also explains winter wrap up; without the Earth's tilt, seasons would have to be artificially manufactured.

 

Just a wild guess.

 

(So in response to the topic's question, this would mean that stars are normal stars.)

Edited November 6, 2015 by Makazi

[ggg-2 3,552]

This is......a legitimate question.  Someone get an analyst on this!

[Hazy Skies 1,010]

Astrology is still a definate thing.. as there are clearly observatories in a few places in Equestria.. as well as in "It's about time" she did heaps on research on space and any spacial anomalies..

 

As for the stars and Luna being able to move them.. Luna did have trouble moving them when Star Swirl was teaching her how to.. but this was before the first moved the moon and became much more powerful in her alicorn magic.. The stars only visible at night anyway.. so there's not much reason for Luna to waste her time on moving them every night.. Unless of course she's bored

 

It still kind of puzzles me as to why she can move multiple stars but struggles moving the sun

Edited November 6, 2015 by AURAequine

[Xeltor23 704]

I think that stars in MLP are what they are in our universe, normal stars. While we say that Luna has a control over them, I think her control is not directly on them, she just kind of show them in a better way. Her speciality is the night after all, connecting that to her "control'' over stars makes me think she doesn't have a direct control like in moving them, but rather something to do with night time. Yes, that's a lot less "mystic" or magic, but I think it's logic

[chirox the pony 1,336]

You know I think they probably do work like our universe but maybe the princesses just keep them at a consistent time so days never get shorter. 

[Lordav 3,427]

Well, what i come to believe is that the sisters control the planets rotation, not actually the moon and the sun (as the sun would be too large to move... and as we saw, celestia not being all-powerful could possible do it. My headcannon is that they just spin the planet, altering the day night cycle. Thus they do not affect any orbits/ systems/ other strars =p

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

My theory is that the dead in MLP become stars and astrological objects. Your normal "weak" ponies who don't do much in life become a normal star, your great and powerful or famous ponies who accomplished much in life become comets or constellations.

 

[cmarston1 5,959]

Well If Celestia and Luna can raise and lower the sun and moon, then I am pretty sure stars work differently in whatever planet MLP FIM takes place on.

And thus stars would have magical properties which would make them different to how they act on our world.

[Vulcan 3,254]

Legend has it that in the longest day of the thousandth year

the stars will aid in her escape

and she will bring about everlasting night

 

The Stars might have a will of their own,

Or it could be relating to the theory that

the mane cast are the stars and RD's sonic rainboom

in her filly years caused the magic that shackled Luna to weaken.

 

I always loved the Idea of stars in the MLP universe ,

their like millions of Suns that can only be seen at night. 

[cybershocker455 324]

I think stars are dead people:

[El Duderino 879]

Maybe in their universe, suns orbit planets, not the other way around. I know this would go against the law of gravity, but magic could be a possible explanation for that. Or maybe planets and suns don't orbit each other at all, unless there is a being like Sunbutt to make it happen. This would give reason to say that stars are very similar to our stars, but certain physical laws rely on magic, such as orbiting.

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

Good question! Now like many others I hold to the theory that the two sister actually rotate the planet instead of the Sun, (They have complete control over the Moon though) although this is rather faulty given what we've seen in the show.  

What I find more interesting is the constellations.  The show has made reference to both the Ursa and Orion constellations.  Now what this means is that Equestria is located exactly in the same place as Earth is (or in the same solar system anyways) because the constellations we have do not exist anywhere else given parallax shift and apparent distance of the star that make them up. Also that Orion, the one shaped like a human exist, I find a bit humorously odd.  

Edited November 7, 2015 by Sidral Mundet

[Jammo 986]

Me theory.  Geocentric universe with the stars being backdrop, like the sun and the moon.  There to serve the world and only the world.  BUT.  I'd like to think aliens exist in this universe but they are more the trans-dimensional and/or angelic kind.

[Side Bird 565]

I agree with Makazi up there. My thoughts have always been that somehow the world they live on stopped spinning, so Celestia and Luna simply rotate the planet every twelve or so hours, their magic keeping it going for that exact or a certain exact amount of time. Why they'd need to do this and if others did it before them, I don't know.

[Malinter 3,064]

 

sry, couldn't resist posting this... altho it is kinda relevant. XD

[J. Brony 313]

The issue was never addressed in the show but I've seen a lot of fanworks that mention Luna being the one who sets the stars in the sky.  The most popular is the song "Do you want to see the moon rise?" by Eilemonty.  It contains these lyrics:

 

 

 

"I've been working oh so very hard to move the stars into a beautiful array."

 

I know it's far from canon but this is all I've got.  Oh, and also this.

Edited November 7, 2015 by J. Brony

[best poni 1,518]

Giant balls of burning gas floating in space 

[RarityFan01 2,444]

They are the spirits of ponies who have passed away. 

[Yufery 205]

 I can only imagine that Equestria is in fact a planet and their sun is a star, and the Two Sisters (and Twilight in Twilight's Kingdom)  moving the sun and moon isn't physically doing it, but is in fact changing how the light reflects upon the land. Some would argue that there's no way the Two Sisters could constantly keep the light reflecting, but I'd imagine that they've already set up an existing magical path for the light to reflect to across the sky, and only raising and lowering them requires manual labor.

 

So basically I think that while the sun and moon are in fact there, I don't believe the planet rotates properly to where they could naturally do it, so Celestia and Luna have to basically control how the light reflects upon Equestria, and not the actual physical bodies. They most likely have an automated path to have the light reflect across the sky throughout the day and night, but must manually raise and lower them when the time comes.

 

However, no one's even considering the fact that Equestria is definitely not in our own universe, and as such it would probably have its own laws of physics. So really, if we were to explain this, the only way to know for sure would to be to ask an Equestrian astronomer.

[Buck Testa 5,505]

Considering how tiny the sun and moon are in our Pony Show it would make sense why they revolve around the planet, and they wouldn't necessarily challenge our perception of the universe by doing that. The rest of the universe could still function as normal and you could still have a geocentric solar system. 

[BlinkZ 1,151]

I would say first ita cartoons, i mean they had the sun and moon out at the same time during Season 3 opener so Explain that ith your 'human' sciecne.  frankly we can't and really shoudln't over think this. It's a cartoon were ponis can be crushed by pianos' and survive i'm pretty sure trying to explain magic is like trying t aswer to the meaning of life

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

Looks like most fans seem to prefer the "spirits of the dead" theory. Good to know I'm in good company

 

 

Me theory.  Geocentric universe with the stars being backdrop, like the sun and the moon.  There to serve the world and only the world.  BUT.  I'd like to think aliens exist in this universe but they are more the trans-dimensional and/or angelic kind.

Yeah, I like the geocentric universe theory too.