I've read a few threads here and it doesn't seem like this particular topic has been discussed yet.

The first aspect of the cycle_reponse image that immediately jumped out at me was what appeared to be a depiction of a lunar phase at the top of the image, and indeed that's what it is [EDIT: upon further research that is actually very disputable]. Obviously the images of earth and the odd alignment of the continents(s) is a big feature in the image, but could it be that we're overlooking something by not paying more attention to the this lunar cycle?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_cycle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_rotation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse

Thoughts?

Was the moon not part of the Earth millions of years ago? How about near the time after Pangea? That's where the link is.

But wait, could it be that it is not the moon, but the cycle of the earth around the sun? I mean since it looks like the smaller center globe is throwing light onto the larger orbiting globe. That would make more sense to me.

I understand that it could be the lunar cycle, but it just says CYCLE_Response, not lunar. And since the Earth also "cycles" around the sun, and has seasons maybe that's what the symbolizm is. Especially if there was no moon before pangea broke up???

Let me just first explain why I think this orbit (whatever it is) is important.

- In episode five we see a couple of shots with the sun and earth in very interesting alignments.

- Also in episode five, we see shots of waves, which could be seen as the tide coming in. The ocean tide on earth is effected by the moon.

- In one of the earliest frames from episode five, there is a clear image of earth with the moon orbiting.

- This thread claims that Jonas used to reference the "next full moon" often. The next full moon is on August 28th.

- On the SOTA website, they cite Stonehenge as "evidence". Stonehenge is believed to be a calender of sorts. SOTA dismisses this reasoning, but if the orbit of the moon and/or earth is that crucial, than perhaps that is a valid explanation.

- On their website SOTA makes reference to the importance or round objects. That may be stretching it, but if you're going with that, the sun, moon, and earth are pretty important round stuff.

- The terminal.jpg image contains what many people are calling an "eye" of sorts on the right half of the picture. This "eye" clearly has four sides to it, the top side appearing to have a full round circle on it. To me, this could correspond to the orbit cycle in someway (including the "full moon" at the top), possibly even directly connecting the two images.

I'm no longer entirely sure this is even a lunar phase, because it may be earth's orbit around the sun. This is possible for two reasons: first, as DaRin pointed out, the inner circle is brighter, and second, the light side of the orbiting object is always facing the center, which isn't consistent with a lunar phase.

What doesn't add up is the bottom position of the orbiting object (presumably earth), it appears to be a total eclipse. Is that a solar eclipse on earth? It looks more like the new moon, or "dark moon" position, which is what made me think of the lunar phase, but the new moon wouldn't occur in that position, presuming we any view of the lunar phase is from the celestial north looking down on the earth and moon. Which leaves very few logical explanations, other than that orbiting object as earth, and some sort of eclipse.

My first thought was, ii otnemem ii probably just threw his computer out the window.

Well obviously not everyone has been overlooking it... >.>

I meant to suggest that people seem to be paying more attention to the whole pangea deal in the cycle_response image.

Mostly because it's the most obvious feature in the image, and also the least relevant to the time period or events of the Halo series, so it's more mysterious, not to mention that the cycle and response in question could be any number of things not even necessarily related to lunar or solar cycles, although I think that's what it is.

Maybe the moon itself has more to do with the Forerunners than we've considered.

Also something I noticed that could be related are the symbols on the Servers. They appear to perhaps have some celestial meaning. Each one you can click on to open the files, has a unique design. For intstance, the symbol for earth is a circle with a cross through it (kind of looks like a scope). There are a few others that are also close or resemble other symbols as well, such as the sun, which is a sphere surrounded by a "halo". Perhaps there's something in there to explore.

I'm not sure how to post an image here, but you can look at a few samples here:

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/all_symbols.jpg&imgrefurl=http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm%3FIM_ID%3D167&h=1500&w=2173&sz=400&tbnid=HEGPqnDd5eoF3M:&tbnh=104&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dplanetary%2Bsymbols%26um%3D1&start=3&ei=mb_IRvqXCpSWgQPR39jYBg&sig2=8ncZtUDL4qa3055AUpknpA&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=3

That does seem interesting... I'm almost certain the sun symbol was on one of the servers.

Lunar phases FTW!