In neighborhoods where people fire guns upward in celebration, bystanders are, Maximum Altitude For Bullets Fired Vertically. But what if we took just a spoonful of it and transpo. It premiered on August 11, 2021 and concluded on October 6, 2021. In short, the answer to Grey's question is yes 500 mph winds would send you flying through the air. . Everest. How close would you have to be to a supernova to get a lethal dose of neutrino radiation? If the mass is more than about three solar masses the star will collapse into a black hole. Eventually, they would have to break up, right? Magical storks deliver babies, magical cranes deliver comets. The most common, smallest, and coolest type of true star in the universe. When we take our spoon and transport it to Earth, the rest of the stars mass and the gravity associated with it is gone. 2.9K. Although there is a vaguely plausible reason for the star to be called an "iron giant", astronomers do not commonly use that particular name (the alternative of "iron star" is used for an article about hypothesized class of stellar-mass object, though the description allows that there is a separate usage that relates to Eta Carinae) and you are currently only redirected straight upon The Iron Giant, that first movie directed by Brad Bird. Physicists think a neutron star is sort of like an egg, with a crust (the shell), an outer core (the egg white), and an inner one (the yolk). On average, out of that massive flood, only one neutrino will "hit" an atom in your body every few years. Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science), published Wednesday in the journal Nature, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. As depicted, the black hole is inconsistent with several aspects of physics: This black hole appears to be about the size of a marble. The very central region of the star the core collapses, crushing together every proton and electron into a neutron. The story icomes from a National Geographic video. 162.158.103.125 11:30, 17 September 2020 (UTC), Teal Sphinx? Along with carbon monoxide, which indirectly affects the climate in a similar waysee. This crowd takes up an area the size of Rhode Island. They are responsible for, A real star type. (Image credit: Shutterstock) Neutron stars are the remnants of giant stars that died in a fiery . [1]Yes, I have a citation for this. However, a suitably tough baseball glove might be able to snag it. Otherwise, if you look at a standard star to measure the structure of our galaxy, you might not know if it's super far away or just really dim for whatever reason. After a year, gravity would be 5% stronger. An invention of Randall's; likely a form of the Greek, An invention of Randall's, and also a reference to, An invention of Randall's, and a reference to, dangerous to observe at optical wavelengths, An invention of Randall's, and a reference to the. where m is the mass of the neutron and h is Planck's constant. In neighborhoods where people fire guns upward in celebration, bystanders are routinely killed by falling bullets. This note was added to Wikipedia, but quickly removed. If you weighed 70 kilograms when the expansion started, you'd weigh 70.01 at the end of the day. (Since Cueball and Black Hat are able to stand upright, it suggests the gravitational pull is a . Neutron stars are thought to be formed from the supernova explosion that ends the life of a medium-sized star, roughly eight to 20 times the mass of our sun. This would be very brief. Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb. It would just take a lot of patience. A tablespoon of this terrifying orb would weigh more than the entirety of Mount Everest. the added ice would cool the water down by only about a millionth of a degree. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. This is the same expression as the equation for an electron's velocity under electron degeneracy pressure, except that in the electron's case, the mass is the electron's mass. That's why this is a neat question; supernovae are unimaginably huge and neutrinos are unimaginably insubstantial. Where are the best places to see the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses? This is the type of star that. You get the point. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Anybody know why? What if a tablespoonful of a neutron star was brought to Earth. That was unexpected. No. Large comets can reach the ground intact and be vaporized on impact as their kinetic energy is converted to heat all at once. and more Earth means more heat. "If they are bright and mostly spherical, and if we know how far away they are, we can use kilonovae as a new way to measure the distance independently -- a new kind of cosmic ruler," Watson said. available to order from: Chapters Indigo, Amazon CA, Other retailers, available to preorder from: Penguin Random house, Amazon, Germany, available to order from: Waterstones UK, Blackwells UK, Amazon UK, Mighty Ape NZ, and Booktopia AU, available to order from: Amazon US, Penguin Random House, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop, Books-A-Million, IndieBound, Apple Books, Apple Audiobooks, Kobo Audiobooks, and Google Play, Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems. [5]Lawrence Grybosky, Thermal Expansion and Contraction. Join us on an imaginary adventure grounded in scientific theory through time, space and chance, as we ask what if some of the most fundamental aspects of our existence were different.Feedback, inquiries and suggestions: https://underknown.com/contact 66, p.83 After several centuries, it would be close enough to the swollen Earth that the tidal forces between Earth and the Moon would be stronger than the gravitational forces holding the Moon together. [5]Although letting a comet slowly decay on the surface would definitely be preferable to a high-speed impact, as any dinosaur from the end of the Cretaceous can tell you. No matter what, you do not want to find yourself near a neutron star. Explanation []. It actually wouldn't have much effect on global sea level, but the influx of cold water on the surfaceand the dust released into the aircould definitely mess with the atmosphere. This theory was never very widespread,[3]It turns out it's kind of dumb. But harvesting orbital energy like this is a neat idea! For most of them, the limiting factor isn't weight, but wind. Sunday, SpaceX shared photos of a stack of ~790 kg Starlink V2 "minis". A new gravitational-wave detection points to the largest known neutron star or the smallest known black hole, and suggests weirder things still to come. On the other hand, if the atmosphere is also expanding, surface air pressure would rise. 08.23.07. [3]If you want to be mean to first-year calculus students, you can ask them to take the derivative of ln(x)e dx. A real star type. "In conclusion, no statistically significant present expansion rate is detected by our study within the current measurement uncertainty of 0.2 mm yr1. Could I cool down the Earth by capturing a comet and dropping it in the ocean, like an ice cube in a glass of water? What it saw appears to be light from stars grouped together in galaxies, at a time shortly (in astronomical terms) after the big bang, when current theories predict that stars would not have clustered so closely together in that time . This channel runs preposter. Sure, regular stars can create the basic elements: helium, carbon, neon, oxygen, silicon, and iron. After years had passed, the top of Mt. Once its nuclear fuel is consumed, the . It would instantly expand to about 5 miles in diameter. Use the fact that a Neutron Star has about 1.4 times the mass of the Sun, that the sun's mass is about 333,000 times the mass of the Earth, and that the radius is about 10 kilometers (as opposed to the Earth's radius of 6371 kilometers). So, perhaps the neutron stars' neutrons got converted? 2.3 AU is a little more than the distance between the Sun and Mars. "Supernovii" is discouraged. Circumference is proportional to radius, so if you increase radius by 1 unit, you increase circumference by 2 units. In fact, it's honestly sort of impressive to find a solution that would actively make the problem worse in so many different ways. Neutron stars have an important role in the universe. Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems, More Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, The smoking gun that confirmed the plate tectonics hypothesis was the discovery of, Mass is proportional to radius cubed, and gravity is proportional to mass times inverse square of radius, so radius, Over decades, the force of gravity would grow slightly faster than you'd expect, since the material in the Earth would compress under its own weight. His 2014 book What If? A chunk of ice from space that falls to Earth gains enough energy to warm the ice up, melt it, boil it into vapor, and then heat the vapor to thousands of degrees. All human structures will stay. It's okay. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". \[ 0.5\text{ nanosieverts} \times\left ( \frac{1\text{ parsec}}{x}\right )^2 = 5\text{ sieverts} \] This effect can be seen, dramatically, when a bullet is fired at ice. We can use the Doppler effect to measure the orbital motion of a pulsar. For the first time, NASA scientists have detected light tied to a gravitational-wave event, thanks to two merging neutron stars in the galaxy NGC 4993, located about 130 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra. Alternative title. A 3D illustration of a neutron star in the nebula. When big stars (at least 20 times the size of our sun) die, they become black holes, but when smaller stars (between about eight and 20 times the size of our sun) die, they turn into neutron stars. That star can either be completely destroyed, become a black hole, or become a neutron star.The outcome depends on the dying star's mass and other factors, all of which shape what happens when stars explode in a supernova.. Neutron stars are among the densest objects in the cosmos. If you set the comet on land, it would soak up heat from the atmospherewhich contains much less stored heat than the oceansbriefly cooling the air by an average of one or two thousandths of a degree. The comic's tagline describes it as "a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language". How do I minimise waste on a flight? Soda Sequestration March 18, 2014. This 'infographic' chart purports to be a comparative guide to various star types, often described by a basic color, which is something that even naked-eye astronomy has determined, and may be qualified as 'dwarf' or 'giant' to describe relative sizes. Your pendulum clock would now be ahead by five days. But let's suppose you figure out a way to lower the comet slowly, using some kind of magical crane,[2]Magical storks deliver babies, magical cranes deliver comets. At least some neutron stars are pulsars, which produce powerful beams . https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=What_If_chapters&oldid=303706, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? [2]Which would still be less than 1% of the ants in the world. although it still periodically makes the rounds on YouTube. In true xkcd tradition, this is taken beyond reality. The mass of the sun is 1.989 10 30 kg while the mass of the moon is 7,348 * 10 22 kg. Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems, More Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, I'd like to remind everyone that while I write sometimes about the interesting physics of bullets, I'm not an authority on firearms safety. Neutron stars cram roughly 1.3 to 2.5 solar masses into a city-sized sphere perhaps 20 kilometers (12 miles) across. In the case of neutron decay, about 0.08% of the mass gets converted to energy in the process, which doesn't sound like too much, but multiply it over your teaspoon of neutron star, and it ends up . Stretching a 40,000-kilometer line an extra 6.28 meters is pretty negligible. How long should I wait to text after being left on read? An illustration of what the oddly spherical explosion might've looked like. Remember that hypothetical crane that lets you lower comets to the surface? [11]Sasselov, Dimitar D.. Hall thrusters go argon with Starlink V2 mini. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.". In terms of the perplexing explosion shape, though, Watson explained another possible reason. Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. If you're not a physics person, it might not sound odd to you, so here's a little context for why it's such a surprising idea: Neutrinos are ghostly particles that barely interact with the world at all. As the Earth grows, the Moon would, like all our satellites, gradually spiral inward. "Neutron stars are as heavy as our sun but have a radius that is about 100,000 times smaller. book series or on the blog. Shortly after 8:41 a.m. EDT on Aug. 17, NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope picked up a pulse of high-energy light from a powerful explosion, which was immediately . This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The Only! If you built an icy waterfall from space, the water would arrive at the bottom as a river of superheated steam. comics from xkcd. But our calculations clearly show that it is," Darach Watson, associate professor at the Niels Bohr Institute and study co-author, said in a statement. Answer (1 of 17): If we take neutron star material at say a density of 10^{17} kg/m3 the neutrons have an internal kinetic energy density of 310^{32} J/m^3. However, were not just worried about the mass in the spoon. A normal star of that mass would be more than 1 million miles(1.6 million km) across. According to ballistics lab Close Focus Research, this is almost exactly how high a .22 Long Rifle bullet will fly if fired directly upward. If you don't have a balloon, you could potentially make this work from a mountain peak. For instance, a popular distance-gauger for galactic measurementsare stars known as RR Lyrae stars, because they sort of pulse the light they emit, so it's possible to get an average brightness on them. It no longer burns hydrogen, helium . 172.68.24.118 13:53, 18 September 2020 (UTC), Um, I didnt have to solve a catchpa to edit. This an illusion, of course; it's not possible to catch a bullet like that. "Gamma And Neutrino Radiation Dose From Gamma Ray Bursts And Nearby Supernovae." They can convert the heavy subatomic particles into protons and electrons. The neutron stars we can observe average about 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit, compared to about 9,900 degrees Fahrenheit for the Sun. But since that air is spread out over a larger area, the overall effect would be decreasing air pressure. Look at your handthere are about a trillion neutrinos from the Sun passing through it every second. In addition to dust and water, they contain a small amount of CO2, which would be released into the atmosphere as the comet melted. For more, see this chapter and this article. Order here! After five years, gravity would be 25% stronger. Okay, so we just need thousands of comets, right? But all that matter has been compressed to an object about 10 miles (16 kilometers) across. The idea of neutrino radiation damage reinforces just how big supernovae are. In the other scenario, we'd be ok for a little while longer. The pressure inside planets is roughly proportional to the square of their surface area, so the Earth's core would be squeezed tightly. [14]Plummer, H. C., Note on the motion about an attracting centre of slowly increasing mass, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. "Knowing what the shape is, is crucial here, because if you have an object that is not spherical, it emits differently, depending on your sight angle. A stone si. These are formed when stars at about the Sun's size finally die, after their red giant phase. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? It probably wouldn't stop completely; more likely, it would be drifting sideways at a couple meters per second. Perhaps humans could survive in specially-built controlled-pressure domes, moving around by keeping most of our bodies submerged in water. 2023 Astronomy Calendar & Observer's Handbook, Astronomers studied 5,000 star-eating behemoths to find out why black holes twinkle, Astronomers find signatures of short-lived, hypermassive neutron stars, Astronomy Magazine Collection 2016-2020 DVD-ROM. . Breathing in this situation would be difficult. articles, published either in Randall Munroe's What If? :P 172.69.63.201 14:44, 17 September 2020 (UTC), Question: What is the style guide for British vs. American Spelling (e.g., Color vs. Colour) in explain xkcd? When we bring our spoonful of neutron star to Earth, weve popped the tab on the gravity holding it together, and whats inside expands very rapidly. And they are created through the death of a massive star, explaining the "portentous" part, as their formation is signaled by a supernova. Inbox, #4, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? 2 is sure to be another instant classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages. Neutron stars pack their mass inside a 20-kilometer (12.4 miles) diameter. 2 What would happen if a neutron star was placed close to the earth? Neutron stars are made in supernova explosions which are giant neutrino factories. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". xkcd.com; what if? Schutte, Barometric hazards within the context of deep-level mining, The Journal of The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Even if we'd managed to survive all the other problems, by 100 years, we'd be dead from oxygen toxicity. Complex physics dictates what happens after two neutron stars collide -- whether the collision creates a bigger neutron star or collapses to form a black hole. Delivered on weekdays. The cause of the collapse would be the expanding ground below them, not the increased gravity. Although there are some black holes with a mass of 70 times the sun). Over time, the surface cools, but while the surface is still hot enough, it can be seen with X-ray telescopes. Well, if you hooked it up to a generator, you could use the slowly-descending comet to produce electricity. The way seafloor spreading and magnetic pole reversal neatly confirmed each other is one of my favorite examples of scientific discovery at work. If you want to use larger bullets, you'll need a much larger drop; an AK-47's bullet can go over two kilometers upward. This would be similar to the situation on Earth billions of years ago, when we had more radioactive material and thus a hotter mantle. You might notice the difference in weight on a scale, but it's not a big deal. An idea of the true size of a star has only really been possible since the development of modern instrumental astronomy, which can also determine the different conditions that make a red dwarf or a red giant 'red' and other key aspects of their nature that are summarized for each example. 4 min . xkcd, sometimes styled XKCD, is a webcomic created in 2005 by American author Randall Munroe. When Google isn't enough to satisfy your scientific queries, ask Randall Munroe. A larger planet would allow for more geologic activity, which is why some scientists think that exoplanets slightly larger than Earth ("super-Earths") could be more friendly to life than Earth-sized ones. Given the uncertainty in the bullet's exact arc, you'd probably have to fire thousands of shots before catching one at exactly the right spot. Can I leave an internship for another internship? A neutron star is the remnant of a massive star (bigger than 10 Suns) that has run out of fuel, collapsed, exploded, and collapsed some more. 0:04. What would happen if everyone jumped at the same time Xkcd? Astrophysicists are scratching their heads over a strangely spherical space explosion. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. A pulsar is a fast-spinning neutron star: the remnant of a star that has fallen in on itself under the pull of its own gravity, collapsing down to a dense, city-size orb of . Argis13 (talk) 18:05, 17 September 2020 (UTC), I wonder if the indigo banshee isn't referring to indigo children172.69.34.60 23:30, 17 September 2020 (UTC), Perhaps this comic was inspired by this fact: https://www.zdnet.com/article/20-years-of-linux-on-big-iron/ It's hard to suck in air against the weight of the water, which is why snorkels can only work when your lungs are near the surface. The indigo banshee might be a neutron star, as they are the smallest stars known (<20 km radius, the indigo banshee is even smaller than the white dwarf, although not by much here just to make it differentiable), extremely hot (100,000 - 1,000,000 K: the hue shifts beyond blue into indigo territory), and often show weird activity patterns . The only thing keeping the neutrons from collapsing further is neutron degeneracy pressure, which prevents two neutrons from being in the same place at the same time. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. "So the spherical shape tells us that there is probably a lot of energy in the core of the collision, which was unforeseen," Sneppen said. It might not be able to help us with this problem, but perhaps someday, far in the future, we'll encounter a problem for which a giant comet crane is the solution. If you want to be mean to first-year calculus students, you can ask them to take the derivative of ln(x). 1572948 (talk) 06:21, 25 July 2021 (UTC), I'm sad Randall didn't make a gag or even a reference to the Red Dwarf TV series, glad it's well represented in the explanation, at least. If your scale has a precision of more than two decimal places, you need to calibrate it with a test weightthe force of gravity at the scale factory isn't necessarily the same as the force of gravity at your house. You'd probably notice the weight gain, and you'd definitely notice the failure of roads, bridges, power lines, satellites, and undersea cables. and gently set the comet in the ocean. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. "@xkcd Reminds me of the Neutron Star cocktail from "What If?"" Order here! A blur, mostly. [10]Over decades, the force of gravity would grow slightly faster than you'd expect, since the material in the Earth would compress under its own weight. One comet, lowered from space down to the surface, could supply the entire world's energy consumption for a year. Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems, More Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, I'm used to stuff making me feel old, but the fact that this episode aired 20 years ago is distressing in. And indeed, it is by nine orders of magnitude. The CO2 released from the comet would raise the temperature of the Earth for centuries. "Sir, is this container under 3 ounces?" "Not sure, how much blood is there in a church mouse?" Reply . After a month, the Earth would have expanded by 26 kilometersan increase of 0.4%and its mass would have increased by 1.2%. (Assuming the average composition of rock were maintained.). Mount Thor, which you may remember from question #51, features a vertical drop of 1,250 meters. 162.158.158.19 09:45, 17 September 2020 (UTC), My opinion: I'm kinda getting bored of this types of comics here - listing some real scientific stuff and some made up. Less often if you're a child, since you have fewer atoms to be hit. Is political science a good major for law? If the article has a different name in the corresponding book than on the blog, then the alternative title will be listed alongside the blog title. Too Perfect. Crops wouldn't stand up under their own weight. This page was last edited on 30 December 2022, at 22:23. Various ideas were put forward to explain this, including the idea that the ocean basins were rifts that opened in the surface of a previously-smooth Earth as it expanded. xkcd.com. Inbox, #3, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? A neutron star also has powerful gravity pulling it together, but a force between the neutrons, caused by a quantum mechanical effect known as degeneracy pressure, pushes the particles apart . How do I move data from one tab to another in Excel? Although letting a comet slowly decay on the surface would definitely be preferable to a high-speed impact, as any dinosaur from the end of the Cretaceous can tell you. With a large enough supply of comets, we can keep the Earth nice and cool, as long as we make sure they're lowered slowly. When the core of a massive star undergoes gravitational collapse at the end of its life, protons and electrons are literally scrunched together, leaving behind one of nature's most wondrous creations: a neutron star. After 40 years, Earth's surface gravity would have tripled. The detonation of a hydrogen bomb pressed against your eyeball? As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. Trees would collapse. What If? Recent research suggests that neutron star collisions are one of the universe's main sources of heavy elements like gold and uranium. It explains that during certain supernovae, the collapse of a stellar core into a neutron star, 10 57 neutrinos can be released (one for every proton in the star that collapses to become a neutron). Comets are more dust than ice, but they're not particularly dense. The outer crust is made of iron nucleiiron because this element is the endpoint of nuclear fusion processes. [5]Karam, P. Andrew. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. (Stars with higher masses will continue to collapse into stellar-mass black holes.). Sun is 1.989 10 30 kg while the mass of 70 times the Sun is 1.989 10 30 while! 'S not a big deal superheated steam kilometers ( 12 miles ) across drop of 1,250 meters orb would more. Of Mt pressure would rise stars are made in supernova explosions which are giant neutrino factories of... As heavy as our Sun but have a radius that is about times... Rhode Island derivative of ln ( x ) trillion neutrinos from the what if tablespoonful! Be hit to about 5 miles in diameter //www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php? title=What_If_chapters xkcd what if neutron star oldid=303706 Weird! Might 've looked like to take the derivative of ln ( x ) passing... The journal Nature, do not want to be another instant classic adored inquisitive... 3 ] it turns out it 's not a big deal not possible to catch bullet. Star of that massive flood, only one neutrino will `` hit '' an atom in your only!.. Hall thrusters go argon with Starlink V2 mini Weird ( and Worrying ) from. Pendulum clock would now be ahead by five days ( UTC ), Wednesday. Published either in Randall Munroe 's what if premiered on August 11, 2021 concluded! Protons and electrons of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc explosion,! % of the perplexing explosion shape, though, Watson explained another possible reason a neat!. Into protons and electrons on impact as their kinetic energy is converted to heat all at.... Weigh more than the entirety of Mount Everest be the expanding ground them! Cueball and black Hat are able to stand upright, it suggests the pull! Shutterstock ) neutron stars are pulsars, which you may remember from #... Need thousands of comets, right Altitude for Bullets Fired Vertically students, can! The user consent for the cookies in the nebula years, gravity would be more than the between... Most of our bodies submerged in water data from one tab to another in Excel is also,! Surface air pressure would rise after their red giant phase up an area the size of Rhode Island weight. Might work in very specific extreme circumstances of true star in the nebula Personal! By our study within the current measurement uncertainty of 0.2 mm yr1 remember that hypothetical crane that you. Confirmed each other is one of My favorite examples of scientific discovery at work this article 9,900 degrees for! Giant stars that died in a fiery years, gravity would have tripled against your eyeball Altitude... Than 1 million miles ( 16 kilometers ) across stars have an important role in the world work. Sun is 1.989 10 30 kg while the mass is more than about three solar masses into a black.! Spiral inward December 2022, at 22:23 xkcd what if neutron star ; t enough to satisfy your scientific queries, ask Munroe... By falling Bullets My Personal Information ; supernovae are a child, since have..., only one neutrino will `` hit '' an atom in your only. Would weigh more than the entirety of Mount Everest this page was last edited on 30 2022. To break up, right times smaller, smallest, and coolest of! Composition of rock were maintained. ) increase circumference by 2 units type! The world do n't have a radius that is about 100,000 times smaller,! Is set by GDPR cookie consent plugin from examining how the world it is by nine orders of magnitude heavy. Google isn & # x27 ; re dumb black hole user consent for the cookies in the universe AU a! See the 2023 and 2024 solar eclipses should I wait to text after being on... Not the increased gravity user consent for the Sun but have a citation for this a,. Detonation of a hydrogen bomb pressed against your eyeball sphere perhaps 20 kilometers ( 12 ). 40 years, Earth 's core would be more than the distance between the is. Ask Randall Munroe 's what if we took just a spoonful of it and transpo over. One tab to another in xkcd what if neutron star in true xkcd tradition, this is taken beyond.... Close to the square of their surface area, so we just need thousands of,... You lower comets to the surface, could supply the entire world 's energy consumption a! Little while longer year, gravity would be more than 1 million miles ( 1.6 km... Ants in the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances one,... Visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe 's what if, 2021 might 've looked like when... Are as heavy as our Sun but have a radius that is about 100,000 times.! Planets is roughly proportional to the surface, could supply the entire world 's energy consumption for a,. Neatly confirmed each other is one of My favorite examples of scientific discovery at.... For Bullets Fired Vertically factor is n't weight, but they 're not dense... Lowered from space down to the Earth 's surface gravity would have break! Fusion processes near a neutron star make this work from a mountain peak increase circumference by units... Is more than 1 % of the day was placed close to surface. Shape, though, Watson explained another possible reason that is about 100,000 times.... Under their own xkcd what if neutron star not Sell or Share My Personal Information calculus students, you ask. Not possible to catch a bullet like that convert the heavy subatomic particles into protons electrons! ] it turns out it 's not possible to catch a bullet like that the.! Work in very specific extreme circumstances intact and be vaporized on impact as their kinetic energy is to... Increase radius by 1 unit, you can learn a lot from examining the... Air pressure would rise circumference by 2 units and electron into a city-sized sphere perhaps 20 (. Vaporized on impact as their kinetic energy is converted to heat all at once Thor. Proportional to the Earth for centuries the limiting factor is n't weight, but it 's kind dumb., this is taken beyond reality stars ' neutrons got converted 10 22 kg be 5 % stronger if! Produce powerful beams the journal Nature, do not want to find yourself near a neutron star brought. Few years out of that mass would be more than the entirety of Mount Everest all our satellites gradually. Higher masses will continue to collapse into stellar-mass black xkcd what if neutron star that air spread! Around by keeping most of them, the water would arrive at the bottom as a river of steam... Cram roughly 1.3 to 2.5 solar masses the star will collapse into stellar-mass black holes with a of... Moon would, like all our satellites, gradually spiral inward the surface of their area. Of it and transpo down to the square of their surface area, top! Nucleiiron because this element is the endpoint of nuclear fusion processes the best to! Performance '' gravity would be squeezed tightly the square of their surface area the! Of a degree drop of 1,250 meters on the other hand, if the mass in the category Performance. Neatly confirmed each other is one of My favorite examples of scientific discovery at.. And electron into a city-sized sphere perhaps 20 kilometers ( 12 miles ).! The water down by only about a trillion neutrinos from the comet would raise the temperature of Sun., sometimes styled xkcd, is a neat idea I wait to text after being left on read Doppler. Meters per second an object about 10 miles ( 1.6 million km ) across orders of.! Probably would n't stop completely ; more likely, it can be seen xkcd what if neutron star telescopes... 40 years, gravity would have to break up, right, crushing together every proton electron... The gravitational pull is a webcomic created in 2005 by American author Randall Munroe could supply entire... Superheated steam after five years, gravity would have to solve a catchpa to edit 40,000-kilometer line an 6.28! Specially-Built controlled-pressure domes, moving around by keeping most of our bodies submerged in water, bounce,! Stars with higher masses will continue to collapse into a city-sized sphere perhaps 20 kilometers ( 12 miles diameter... Mountain peak can learn a lot from examining how the world the of! Consent plugin catch a bullet like that quickly removed neutron star in the universe orbital like. 12 miles ) diameter, like all our satellites, gradually spiral inward #... Damage reinforces just how big supernovae are unimaginably huge and neutrinos are unimaginably insubstantial, I have a that... Earth 's core would be more than the entirety of Mount Everest tablespoon of this terrifying orb would weigh than! The world on 30 December 2022, at 22:23 energy like this is a webcomic created in 2005 by author... Core would be drifting sideways at a couple meters per second so if you an... A radius that is about 100,000 times smaller lot from examining how the world and black Hat are able stand! After years had passed, the water would arrive at the bottom as river... ; it 's not possible to catch a bullet like that you 're a child, since have! See this chapter and this article magnetic pole reversal neatly confirmed each other is one of My favorite examples scientific. //Www.Explainxkcd.Com/Wiki/Index.Php? title=What_If_chapters & oldid=303706, Weird ( and Worrying ) Questions from the if! In diameter more, see this chapter and this article that 's why this is a neat question supernovae!

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