Petrova Line
The infrared streak from the Sun to Venus.
The Petrova line is the faint streak of infrared light running from the Sun to Venus in Project Hail Mary, named for its discoverer, the amateur astronomer Irina Petrova. It appeared as the Sun began to dim, and the Petrova Taskforce sent the ArcLight probe to it, which returned with samples of the 'dots' along the line: the microbe Ryland Grace would name Astrophage.
Quick Facts
- What
- A streak of infrared light from the Sun to Venus
- Named for
- Irina Petrova, who found it
- Cause
- Astrophage travelling to breed on Venus
- Probe
- ArcLight
- Second line
- Tau Ceti to Adrian
Facts from the source article.
Background
The line is Astrophage in transit, enriched cells leaving the Sun for the carbon dioxide of Venus to breed and returning. On reaching Tau Ceti, Grace finds that the undimmed star has a Petrova line of its own, to the planet he names Adrian, and he and Rocky collect a sample from it that proves to be full of microbial life, which leads them to the Astrophage predator Taumoeba. Grace's eighth-grade students quiz him about the line in the book's opening flashback, and the Hail Mary carries a Petrovascope that sees in the line's frequency.
Source
Text adapted from Petrova Line on the Project Hail Mary Wiki (Fandom, CC BY-SA 3.0). Page history: contributors. Codexery summarised the page, and this entry is shared under the same licence.
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