The Prince in Space

Asteroid 329, described in the book as the "Lamplighter's planet", has a humanoid take the role of a gas illuminator, a common occupation in the late 19th and early 20th century, over a lamp on a devoid planetoid. When the Little Prince speaks to the Lamplighter, he describes the planet's rotation on its axis resulting in spans of 1-minute from sunrise to sundown. This rotation speed is approximately accurate for what the planetoid should have been spinning at in the 1930s.

However, since that moment, the rotational speed of the planetoid increased. By the time the Soviets had detected Asteroid 329's weak light, it was flashing approximately 100x times faster than its predicted rate in the 1930s.

Left: Soviet Report Animation 1992 / Right: Report Animation Overlaid On 1997 Colombian "Armero" Space Telescope Imagery

In 1997, A Chosunese Satellite orbiting Jupiter detected what was assumed to be "background" noise from the sector that Asteroid 329 is located in. Over the course of two years, the satellite heard three phrases repeated. "J'abandonne", "Je Dors", and "Pardonne-Moi". The Chosunese report assumed it was picking up radio waves from Earth (or more clandestinely, French interference from the nearby "Charles De Gaulle" probe.)
Asteroid 329, described in the book as the "Lamplighter's planet", has a humanoid take the role of a gas illuminator, a common occupation in the late 19th and early 20th century, over a lamp on a devoid planetoid. When the Little Prince speaks to the Lamplighter, he describes the planet's rotation on its axis resulting in spans of 1-minute from sunrise to sundown. This rotation speed is approximately accurate for what the planetoid should have been spinning at in the 1930s.

However, since that moment, the rotational speed of the planetoid increased. By the time the Soviets had detected Asteroid 329's weak light, it was flashing approximately 100x times faster than its predicted rate in the 1930s.

However, these phrases and the timespan they were repeated in correspond with abnormal behaviors detected from Asteroid 329. J'abandonne, or "I quit" was repeated over the course of three months, where the frequency of flashes decreases dramatically to the point of ending. Je dors, or "I'm sleeping" was detected once before a pause lasting twelve months. Pardonne-Moi, or "Forgive me", was detected and repeated for another nine months as the asteroid began blinking far faster than before. It is currently blinking 20x faster than detected in 1992. NEXT PAGE