SharkD <pos### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> I didn't realize a) that the sun was so large WRT the ring, and b) that
> the inner "shadow" ring was so much nearer the outer ring than the sun.

OK, so it's not Niven's ringworld, but if it was, the sun should also be a lot
smaller. :D As Thomas detailed, for Niven's ringworld, it's basically our sun,
with the ring as Earth's orbit. The ring's width is the same as the sun's
diameter.

(I don't think you'd want the shadow squares that close to the ring floor anyway
- very abrupt nightfall, total cave-like darkness and utterly empty sky at
night... it might even cause the natives to die off depending on their
psychology. Also less efficient - you need more material to make them, and more
energy to spin them up and stabilise them. Plus, in the event of a failure of
the shadow ring, you'd have far less time to do something about it before the
shadow squares hit the ringworld.)

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