That’s actually right.
What kind of vampires are we talking about? And by “what kind” I mean: whose literary universe should we be looking at? Or, for that matter, what celluloid and/or TV-rules apply?
(How long have you been here? Have you read anything written here?)
Why do you hate fun?
Does the moon actually reflect the full spectrum of sunlight or just a portion of it? I was thinking that if the moon absorbs certain wavelengths of solar light rather than reflecting it, then that would be the type of light that harms vampires.
This vampire gets around in the sunlight just fine, so I propose that for a vampire to walk in the light of day, they merely need to eat more cereal.
How much light is necessary before the monster in your closet goes away? How much light is needed for the clown doll on your bookshelf to look silly instead of spooky? How dark does it have to be for the ghost stories told at summer camp to scare you? I think there actually is a light level below which the “whoo-OOO-ooh” factor kicks in. Brighter than a full moon, darker than a really overcast day. It’d make an interesting subject for study.
Since vampires are by their nature a magical concept, I don’t think there’s much point in discussing UV or other technical details.
I think the deal is, as Epimetheus said, that it’s our sun. Vampire lore emerged in days of geocentric or heliocentric cosmologies, when the Sun was conceived of as being different in kind from the stars. So I think it’s fair to assume the technical details are consistent with that.
It follows, then, that a vampire could bask in the light of any star except Sol, but that the light of Sol would be dangerous to him/her at any distance.
Come on guys. Of course vampires are fictional and inconsistent between various stories, blah blah blah. The point of the thread, like many of this type, is to come up with our own rules for vampires that take into account this new step, going into space, that remains consistent with what we believe has been established in other works of fiction. It’s supposed to be fun.
If we posit that it’s our sun specifically that harms vampires, then could we suppose that they would be fine under a different sun? If they were to go to a planet under a red sun, could their abilities be enhanced, as a sort of anti-Superman?
One thing I’ve never been sure of about vampires…is it their skin that has to be exposed for them to be harmed, or is it merely their presence in sunlight that kills them? Could they wear a spacesuit and walk around in daylight protected, or would the mystical power of the sun see through such a ruse?
I believe I just supposed exactly that.
Hmmm…space vampires…Buck Rogers in the 25th century.
I don’t see the point in arguing over literary universes when there are vampires, possibly in space, possibly only a few light-days away and maybe hurling comets at us as we speak!
This link suggests that the moon reflects about 1/10 or less UV than visible light.
Sofaspud, even though the light given off by a star isn’t appreciably blocked traveling through space, the energy is dispersed more the further away you get. The cite above indicates a UV albedo of the moon at around 0.7 %. If we assume that to be a safe level, the vampires are around 12 AU away, somewhere beyond Saturn.
You’re probably right, but I thought it was at least a fair enough general baseline (I mean, exactly how much light constitutes “day” and how it would effect a vampire might be debtated, but I think everyone could pretty much agree that one could function under moonlight).
(Kick-ass post by Steve MB, BTW)
But, for the heck of it, why not expand the parameters a bit…say, for the sake of argument, that a vampire can function without harm in twilight—and wikipedia gives the definition of civil twilight as “when the center of the Sun is less than 6° below the horizon” for morning, and more than 6° below for evening. Let’s say it’s at…3° below? Is that fair enough to increase the light noticably, without actually being what the average person would consider “daylight”?
In any case, would that be enough information to calculate the amount of sunlight you’d be getting, as compared to high noon?
The concept that sunlight destroys vampires does not appear in classical vampire folklore, nor in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula (although Drac sleeps by day). It was introduced in the 1922 German movie Nosferatu.
If a standard pine coffin can effectivley shield a vampire from destruction, a good space suit should operate the same.
However, it is established that vampires tend to fall into a torpid state during the day (cf. Saberhagen) regardless of the amount of shade, which takes a tough old nosferatu to fight off by sheer willpower. Vlad Tepes was able to walk around in the thin English sunlight and attend a cricket match, but some younger undead are much more sensitive.
Not exactly “no trouble”- his powers were muted, especially of shape-shifting. But I do think Nosferatu started that particular meme.
Re “space vampires” (Colin Wilson, call your office)- the LIFEFORCE vampires has no sunlight limitations, I believe.
As a hijack, whatever happened to Mathilda May?
All vampires are not created equal.
Kim Newman’s* Anno Dracula* depicts a Victorian England in which The Count was not defeated by Van Helsing, et al. He “turned” Victoria & became her second consort. Vampirism has become widespread in England & on the Continent and older vampires have emerged from hiding. Vampires have the strengths & weaknesses of their “lineage.” For the origin of the lineages, refer to various works of fantastic literature. (Kim Newman did!)
“New” vampires of most lineages tend to be more sensitive to sunshine. Those descended from Dracula can often shape-shift. Good (formerly) Protestant vampires have no fear of the Crucifix.
Newman has continued the series with two more novels & several stories, featuring various literary & “real” characters. Perhaps we’ll get a glimpse of vampires in space!
While all the theoretical answers are interesting, why can’t we perform an experiment? All we need is to line up a couple of hundred Space Vampires at a distance of maybe 100 million miles apart and see which ones explode. It’s pretty basic science.
Write a grant request and see if we can get NSF funding.
Yeah, good luck getting that past the Undead Human Research Oversight Board
I thought that Buffy established that vamps could go out in the sun, as long as they held their leather jackets over their heads. 