"And it's not dimming the background ialdae," Matilda observes. "If it can reach as far as the other side of the world, and it's making the really bright spots here and on the bottom opposite us noticeably dimmer, I would've expected the fainter stuff in its range to be gone already. Is it just pulling from the higher concentrations first? Or is there something about the background that's different from the bright spots? What is its range? I don't think the spots outside Esmaar are being affected..."