New Constellations and Syntheses

[Extrementhusiast]

Three constellations that are special because of certain reactions.

New arrangement of two skewed blocks:

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OO..
OO..
....
....
..OO
..OO

Synthesis:

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.O.....O.
..O...O..
OOO...OOO
.........
.........
.........
OOO......
..O......
.O.......

Simply because of the unusual synthesis.

New arrangement of a loaf and a blinker:

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.O......
O.O.....
O..O....
.OO..OOO

Synthesis:

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....O...........
....O.O......O..
....OO.......O.O
.............OO.
................
................
OOO.............
..O.......OOO...
.O..........O...
...........O....

This synthesis is nothing unusual, but the special reaction is this:

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..OOO..
.......
O.....O
O....OO
O.....O
.......
..OOO..

which produces two copies of the constellation.

Two beehives and blinker:

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....O....
....O....
....O....
.O.....O.
O.O...O.O
O.O...O.O
.O.....O.

Synthesis:

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........O.
.......O..
.......OOO
O.........
.OO.......
OO........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
..........
......OOO.
......O...
.......O..

Also produced by this reaction:

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.O.
OOO
.O.
...
...
.OO
.OO

The constellation appears from the traffic light but the block remains.

[Axaj]

Here is an alternate formation of two beehives and blinker:

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.O..
OOO.
.O..
....
....
....
.OOO
.O..
..O.

[Sokwe]

Although a lot of this has probably already been found, there is very little documentation of constellation syntheses. Here is a direct application of the skewed-blocks synthesis:

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#C 12-glider flotilla synthesis
x = 85, y = 61, rule = B3/S23
57bo$57bobo$57b2o$3bo$4b2o$3b2o9$19bo29bo$17bobo29bobo$18b2o29b2o12$
83bo$82bo$82b3o2$25bo$23b2o$24b2o3$21b3o$21bo$22bo4$63b2o14b3o$18b2o
44b2o13bo$17bobo43bo16bo$19bo12$b2o4b2o$obo3bobo$2bo5bo!

Small constellations of a few close objects can be very useful in syntheses, but in most cases they are not. Since there are simply too many of them, nobody has gone to the trouble of documenting them. One must usually go out and find the syntheses on one's own.

[hkoenig]

Also keep in mind that usually it's possible to construct most of these constellations one object at a time, at the expense of a few extra Gliders. For example, your 2 Block constellation synthesis takes 3 Gliders, while construction of them individually would take 4. The savings is nice, but not huge or important. Often it's better to prove that the construction exists, and then wait to go about finding ways to optimize it when there's a need.