j9mes

@ Strange - Thanks. I'd never heard of the Helliconia Trilogy before and will definitely give it a go. After looking at the Wikipedia page it seems exactly the sort of thing I'm interested in exploring. @swansont - Thanks. This sound interesting. I'll do some more research on Venus I think ...

Hi everyone. This is my first post and I am a novice, but have an interest in planets and orbital patterns. Is it possible for a planet to orbit a sun and be in partial or complete darkness for long periods of time - for example a year or more? If it is possible, would it only be because of of the planet spinning on its axis, or could it be because the elliptical orbit is uneven and takes it farther away during one phase then closer during another? Would the planet be able to recover from the lack of photosynthesis and freezing conditions of being in darkness for a year? How would this affect life on the planet? I welcome any comments or explanations in relation to this topic. Many thanks