Inside the Long Window: Halcyon's observation deck after the refit

The first time Calder comes round beneath your feet, you will probably grab the rail. The Long Window, Halcyon Station's observation deck, is a curved sweep of glass 300 metres long set into the floor and outer wall of the Rim deck, and because the station turns once every 70 seconds, the whole sky wheels past it: stars, then the bright blue edge of the home world, then the planet itself, then stars again. After a long refit the deck has reopened, and it is better than ever.

What the refit changed

The old panes had served for longer than most of the station's staff have been alive, and it showed. Countless grains of dust, each far smaller than a grain of sand, had pitted the outer layers, and when Ilyr was close to the window a milky haze spread across the glass. Every pane has now been replaced with new laminated glass, thicker than before and clear enough that on the night side people instinctively step back from the edge.

The new glass also darkens itself in the instant Ilyr crosses it. Once every turn, for two or three seconds, the deck dims, as if the station had blinked, and then the view returns. It sounds like a gimmick. In practice it means you can stay by the window through the bright part of each turn without squinting, and it protects the eyes of anyone foolish enough to stare.

Inside, the café counter that used to fill one end of the deck has gone, moved to a bar outside the doors, and with it the clatter of cups. The lighting now falls to a low red glow during sessions, with guide strips along the floor. Along the glass are padded couches, and in the floor itself, sections where you are welcome to lie down and watch the sky turn beneath you.

Seventy seconds

Everything you see from the Long Window comes in turns. Within a minute you will know the rhythm: the stars slide across, Calder's limb rises as a brilliant blue band, the planet passes below, and the band sinks away again. It is hypnotic, and regulars say the trick is to stop chasing the view and let it come back to you.

The trick is to stop chasing the view and let it come back to you.

Across the turns, a slower story unfolds. On the night side, the cities of Calder glow in threads along the coasts, and in the aurora season the polar lights show as green curtains over the planet's dark edge. Watch for a while and you will see Selka rise, a grey crescent climbing a little higher above the blue band each time it comes round, as in the picture above. Below your feet, out of sight, liners leave the dock beneath the departures gallery; a few minutes later you will see one as a moving point of light, and then, when its drive lights, a short white flare that drifts across the glass and is gone.

How to behave

The deck has always had its customs. The refit has made them rules.

• No flash, ever. It bounces off the glass and spoils everyone's eyes for minutes. Set your camera to manual, rest it on the glass and shoot between turns.
• Screens down to their dimmest. The staff will ask once, then ask you to leave.
• Quiet hours mean quiet. A blue light over each door marks them, and they cover every dawn session. Speak in a whisper or not at all.
• Shoes off on the glass floor. Soft socks are provided at the door; heels and grit scratch even the new panes.
• No food or drink on the deck. Take your coffee at the bar outside.

Children are welcome, and most of them fall silent faster than the adults. If you find the turning view makes you dizzy, sit on a couch and watch the far end of the window rather than the floor beneath you.

When to go, and how to book

Any time is a good time, but the dawn sessions are the ones people cross the station for. Halcyon passes through Calder's shadow on each orbit, and when it comes out, sunrise breaks along the planet's edge in a band of red and gold that brightens with every turn until the whole limb is lit. The deck's board, and every hotel desk on the Promenade, lists the times. Dusk, when the station slips back into shadow, is quieter and nearly as fine.

If you are only changing ships at Halcyon, try for one session anyway, even an ordinary one at midday. Lie on the glass, let a few turns go by, and watch the home world come round beneath you. It is the cheapest great view in the Reach.