Copper is a fantastically good conductor of electricity, and much of the 20,000 amps could easily take a shortcut through the bullet. Red giant: 3-2000 R; 0.3-50 M, 2500-4000 K, 0.3-650000 L. 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. Inbox, #9, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Spice up your small talk with the latest tech news, products and reviews. Red dwarf: 0.09-0.5 R; 0.07-0.3 M, 1500-4000 K, 0.00001-0.05 L. 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. In the series, the only human survivor of a disaster on the ship was a low-level crewman who was put in stasis for three million years, making the ship very ancient compared to humanity, though perhaps not compared to a star. Similarly, it's so hard to get enough neutrinos to compel even a single one of them to interact with matter, making it hard to picture a scenario in which there'd be enough of them to affect you. Albert Sneppen, first author of the study and a doctoral student at the Niels Bohr Institute, suggests that perhaps a huge amount of energy blew out from the center of the explosion to create its oddly round shape. 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. Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science), published Wednesday in the journal Nature, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. According to ballistics lab Close Focus Research, this is almost exactly how high a .22 Long Rifle bullet will fly if fired directly upward. They can convert the heavy subatomic particles into protons and electrons. Argis13 (talk) 14:18, 25 February 2021 (UTC). Look at your handthere are about a trillion neutrinos from the Sun passing through it every second. Delivered on weekdays. When would the Earth eventually become a black hole? Typical properties are shown below. more from Astronomy's weekly email newsletter. Breathing would be difficult. White dwarf: 0.003-0.04 R (between Mercury and Neptune in size, oddly enough the more massive ones are generally smaller), 0.07-1.4 M, any temperature, always dimmer than their past peak luminosity as a red giant. I was raised, Don't do this. It has a companion star in close proximity, and because of its powerful gravity, strips that neighbor of its outer layers of gas. In that case, the birth of the black hole may be very energetic.". A full-size comet wouldn't be strong enough to support its own weight, and would collapse like a drying sand sculpture. Gravity would take a long time to increase. "Supernovii" is discouraged. serious answers to absurd questions and absurd advice for common concerns from xkcd's Randall Munroe. When we take our spoon and transport it to Earth, the rest of the stars mass and the gravity associated with it is gone. While you might not notice the increased gravity just yet, you'd notice the expansion. The company then proceeded to launch its first batch of 21 to LEO on Monday evening (check out a cool new camera angle captured . The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". And apols again to the first explained who seemed to appreciate their submission as only a placeholder so I overwrote rather than integrated. Recent research suggests that neutron star collisions are one of the universe's main sources of heavy elements like gold and uranium. This animation shows the size and scale of a neutron star over San Francisco. For more, see this chapter and this article. A 3D illustration of a neutron star in the nebula. But what if we took just a spoonful of it and transported it to Earth? Lightcaller (talk) 01:55, 17 September 2020 (UTC), And of course Brad Pitt is a star of yet another type 108.162.215.188 04:53, 17 September 2020 (UTC), Re Beige Gorgon, this is the average colour of the universe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_latte, Note that FeII spectral lines actually refer to signs of Fe+ ions (neutral is 'I', every ionisation level above that adds 1) but I can't see it mattering to anyone who doesn't read this far and it'd certainly have FeIII lines as well for 2+, or maybe I'm confused myself, so I supported the (chemistry) Ferrous association in the description with a link while I was editing nearby. 2 is sure to be another instant classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages. 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. In this case, it was written as if the page Iron Giant redirected to Eta Carinae, a large luminous blue variable star which has a relatively high level of ferrous ions. It's hard to answer that, because the premise of the question is that the radius is steadily expanding while the density stays the samewhereas a black hole, the density increases. "Supernovas" is also fine. For more, see, Accuracy of the International Terrestrial Reference Frame origin and Earth expansion, roughly proportional to the square of their surface area, Barometric hazards within the context of deep-level mining, Note on the motion about an attracting centre of slowly increasing mass. Outer space is a lot higher up than Niagara Falls,[citation needed] so the plunge down into the atmosphere at the bottom of Earth's gravity well adds a lot more than 0.1 degrees worth of heat. book, articles were posted weekly.. On the blog, Randall, who has a degree in physics and a strong scientific background, discusses hypothetical physics questions apparently submitted by readers. The nuclei get pressed close together so . Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. Most buildings would probably be ok, although those anchored firmly into bedrock might start to behave unpredictably. Small chunks of ice falling from space disintegrate and boil away before they reach the ground, warming the upper atmosphere. No observers of any of these celestial bodies have been petrified. At the start of the scenario, the entire Earths population has been magically transported together into one place. feed 2022 . That size implies a black hole can often swallow a neutron star whole. Res. However, a suitably tough baseball glove might be able to snag it. Neutron star matter is completely optically thick to photons. Less often if you're a child, since you have fewer atoms to be hit. Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. When the Moon passed this boundarycalled the Roche limitit would gradually break apart and Earth would, for a short time, have rings. The Earth is not, currently, expanding. After 100 years, we'd be experiencing over six gees of gravity. Yellow dwarf: 0.5-1.3 R; 0.3-1.2 M, 4000-6000 K, 0.05-2 L. where m is the mass of the neutron and h is Planck's constant. 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. The Earth is not, currently, expanding. wouldn't work for a few reasons. After 10 years, gravity would be 50% stronger. "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. The phrase "lethal dose of neutrino radiation" is a weird one. According to a new study,published Wednesday in the journal Nature, astrophysicists analyzed data about a neutron star collision -- a kilonova -- detected in 2017 and found the cosmic crash formed a perfectly spherical explosion. In fact, it's honestly sort of impressive to find a solution that would actively make the problem worse in so many different ways. Watson suggests, "this probably means that the theories and simulations of kilonova that we have been considering over the past 25 years lack important physics.". They'd need to evacuate quickly; they'd have at most a few months before the station reentered the atmosphere and deorbited. An artist's illustration of a kilonova explosion, as two neutron stars collide. If it's going fast enough, a feather can absolutely knock you over. Outside of low-pressure domes, the air would become unbreathable for a different reason. This is (currently) the main way global warming is raising the sea level. 125. [1] But under the right conditions, you could catch a bullet. If it comes down to a vote, I think that we should stick with American spelling in general, because Randall is American. If you weighed 70 kg when the expansion started, you'd weigh 88 kg now. "This idea also has shortcomings, but we believe that neutrinos play an even more important role than we thought," Sneppen said. 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. Hall thrusters go argon with Starlink V2 mini. The neutron star, a pulsar designated PSR J0952-0607, is thus the densest object within sight of Earth. What would happen if a neutron star was placed close to the earth? Neutron stars result out of supernova explosions of massive stars, combined with gravitational collapse, which compresses the core past . [7]Just what you want in a skyscraper. That was unexpected. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Order here! But all that matter has been compressed to an object about 10 miles (16 kilometers) across. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. "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. The reason you don't notice the neutrino flood is that neutrinos hardly interact with ordinary matter at all. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Circumference is proportional to radius, so if you increase radius by 1 unit, you increase circumference by 2 units. A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing 67 comments What If? Enter the Space & Beyond Box Photo Contest! If you succeeded, you might notice something odd: In addition to being hot, the bullet would be spinning. [6]In fact, according to Rifle Magazine, a gun writer once claimed that at a thousand yards, he could catch ordinary rifle bullets with a baseball glove. The satellites would stay in roughly the same orbits, but the delicate timing that the GPS system is based on would be completely ruined within hours. :) NiceGuy1 (talk) 03:54, 26 September 2021 (UTC), Let me know what you think. As gravity increases, then air gets heavier. Enforced by Radar March 11, 2014. At some point, our growing Earth would reach the point where adding more mass causes it to contract, rather than expand. Magical storks deliver babies, magical cranes deliver comets. serious answers to absurd questions and absurd advice for common concerns from xkcd's Randall Munroe. [1]Yes, I have a citation for this. Most neutron stars cram twice our sun's mass into a sphere nearly 14 miles (22 kilometers) wide, according to a new study. is based on his blog of the same name that answers unusual science questions from readers in a light-hearted way that is scientifically grounded. A stone si. All rights reserved. book series or on the blog. This is due to a combination of factors. Inbox, #3, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb. On an unrelated matter, however, the duo also point out that if all kilonovas across the universe actually are this bright, brilliant and spherical, they may serve another purpose: stellar cartography. More details.. At this point, astronauts on the ISS would start getting worried. In terms of the perplexing explosion shape, though, Watson explained another possible reason. 162.158.103.125 11:30, 17 September 2020 (UTC), Teal Sphinx? Neutron stars are made in supernova explosions which are giant neutrino factories. Answer (1 of 22): Summary - This is fictional. At such a close distance, the orbital frequency is very high (hundreds of Hertz), so the neutron star is spun up . Breathing in this situation would be difficult. What If chapters. It would just take a lot of patience. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. Inbox, #2, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? (This added heat is minor compared to the cooling effects of evaporation on the way down, so the actual temperature at the bottom is likely colder.). If you built an icy waterfall from space, the water would arrive at the bottom as a river of superheated steam. What would happen if everyone jumped at the same time Xkcd? To avoid another Drain the Oceans scenario, we'll assume the ocean expands, too. What If? 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. is a blog hosted on the xkcd.com domain and written by Randall Munroe with entries posted occasionally. Statistically, my first neutrino interaction probably happened somewhere around age 10. xkcd.com. This an illusion, of course; it's not possible to catch a bullet like that. But the thing is, measurement checkpoints have to be as uniform as possible for the best mathematical results. Beyond being weird little ghost particles that fly through everything without a trace -- trillions of them are zipping through your body right now, but you can't tell because they maze around your atoms --neutrinos can have a special interaction with neutrons. Small chunks of ice falling from space disintegrate and boil away . After this point, it would collapse into something like a sputtering white dwarf or neutron star, and thenif its mass kept increasingeventually become a black hole. What if a tablespoonful of a neutron star was brought to Earth. 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. 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. The detonation of a hydrogen bomb pressed against your eyeball? Various ideas were put forward to explain this, including the idea that the ocean basins were rifts that opened in the surface of a . It probably wouldn't stop completely; more likely, it would be drifting sideways at a couple meters per second. If you don't have a balloon, you could potentially make this work from a mountain peak. : Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions This channel runs preposter. 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? Not as quickly as you might think. To detect neutrinos, people build giant tanks filled with hundreds of tons of material in the hopes that they'll register the impact of a single solar neutrino. Gamma And Neutrino Radiation Dose From Gamma Ray Bursts And Nearby Supernovae. Mount Thor, which you may remember from question #51, features a vertical drop of 1,250 meters. People have long suggested that it might be. Generally, it turns into heat. 2 What would happen if a neutron star was placed close to the earth? Star Sand February 11, 2014. 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. Previously, she was a science reporter with a start-up publication called The Academic Times, and before that, was an immunology researcher at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. The life of super-Earths: how the hunt for alien worlds and artificial cells will revolutionize life on our planet. [8]See What-If #64. The Only! This is the same effect you observe when an emergency vehicle passes . The dynamics of really huge rocky planets aren't often analyzed, since there's no obvious way that they could form; anything that large will have enough gravity to gather hydrogen and helium during planet formation and become a gas giant. 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. Before publishing the first what if? Everest. Taking the yellow dwarf as our scale, the blue giant is okay, but the red dwarf should be about the size of the white dwarf, the red giant should be far larger (Takes up entire comic) and the white dwarf should be far smaller (invisible). But since that air is spread out over a larger area, the overall effect would be decreasing air pressure. Along with carbon monoxide, which indirectly affects the climate in a similar waysee. What If? 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. #HowTheUniverseWorksA neutron star is one of the most dangerous objects in the universe. "@xkcd Reminds me of the Neutron Star cocktail from "What If?"" But without it, we go nowhere.\" Carl SaganIf you enjoy What If, make sure to check out our other channel \"Underknown\": https://www.youtube.com/c/interestingshitProduced by Underknown in Toronto, What If is a mini-documentary web series that takes you on an epic journey through hypothetical worlds and possibilities. xkcd.com; what if? It's okay. Neutron stars cram roughly 1.3 to 2.5 solar masses into a city-sized sphere perhaps 20 kilometers (12 miles) across. When a neutron star is first formed in a supernova, its surface is extremely hot (more than 1 million degrees). I was raised Quaker; I've never held a gun, much less fired one. The title text is in the style of a Wikipedia page's hatnote / reference note. 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. [1]This was confirmed by Mythbusters in episode 4 of Season 4. 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. Everest would no longer be in the "death zone". After a month, the Earth would have expanded by 26 kilometersan increase of 0.4%and its mass would have increased by 1.2%. \[ x=0.00001118\text{ parsecs}=2.3\text{ AU} \] 0:52. Geologic activity would also accelerate. [11]Sasselov, Dimitar D.. After the first day, the Earth would have expanded by 864 meters. (, An invention of Randall's, and a reference to the elves of. . Toxicity aside, breathing dense air is difficult simply because it's heavy. Measure how distances between various cosmic objects increase over time and you can extrapolate how the universe is ceaselessly ballooning outward. xkcd.com; what if? Surprisingly, most skyscrapers would hold up fine under much higher gravity. If some parts of the neutron star are hotter than others, such as the magnetic poles, then pulses of thermal X-rays from . And by that point, you may find you've attracted some attention. No matter what, you do not want to find yourself near a neutron star. Health Physics 82, no. Some types of stars can vary in a wide range of sizes as well. (Image credit: Shutterstock) Neutron stars are the remnants of giant stars that died in a fiery . 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 . 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. Lightcaller (talk) 01:55, 17 September 2020 (UTC), Wat. 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? Okay, so we just need thousands of comets, right? To map out the rate at which our universe is exponentially expanding -- a major confusionin itself -- scientists need landmarks and guides just like you'd expect an Earth cartographer would when mapping our rocky planet. comics from xkcd. A neutron star balances gravity with neutron degeneracy pressure. Well, I'd argue,anything except what scientists just observed. At least some neutron stars are pulsars, which produce powerful beams . Supernovae[4]"Supernovas" is also fine. 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). A real star type. The "bullet catch" is a common magic trick in which a magician appears to catch a fired bullet in mid-flightoften between their teeth. 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. Ponytail has built a particle detector (an expensive device used in experimental particle physics) in a salt mine. xkcd, sometimes styled XKCD, is a webcomic created in 2005 by American author Randall Munroe. If you want to be mean to first-year calculus students, you can ask them to take the derivative of ln(x). It would have lost its upward momentum, but not its rotational momentum; it would still have the spin given to it by the barrel of the gun. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyones freezer door at the same time? Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randalls signature stick-figure comics, What If? Gravity varies by this much between different cities already. and How To provides his best answers yet to the weirdest questions you never thought to ask. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. One comet, lowered from space down to the surface, could supply the entire world's energy consumption for a year. As the Earth grows, the Moon would, like all our satellites, gradually spiral inward. Therefore, only the surfaces can cool by the emission of such radiation. For most of them, the limiting factor isn't weight, but wind. The nature of matter under these conditions is a decades-old unsolved problem. After 40 years, Earth's surface gravity would have tripled. Since you're moving steadily upward at 1 cm/s, you woudn't feel any kind of ongoing acceleration. 172.68.24.118 13:53, 18 September 2020 (UTC), Um, I didnt have to solve a catchpa to edit. When she's not at her desk, she's trying (and failing) to raise her online chess rating. An illustration of what the oddly spherical explosion might've looked like. Can I leave an internship for another internship? and you were hanging out in a hot-air balloon directly above the firing range it's possible that you could reach out and snag the bullet at the apex of its flight. All Rights Reserved 2022 Theme: Promos by. Not only would the ground (and atmosphere) be rising toward them, but the increased gravity would also cause their orbit to slowly shrink. "Gamma And Neutrino Radiation Dose From Gamma Ray Bursts And Nearby Supernovae." 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. Reminds me of an XKCD joke. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. [Editor's note: This article was updated Feb. 23, 2022.]. Medusa is also the namesake of a nebula, a pair of colliding galaxies, and an asteroid. . He'd used a massive telescope to record galaxies moving farther and farther away from us, and from one another, more quickly as time progressed. This is a list of What If? When someone uses this quote: "I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. In short, the answer to Grey's question is yes 500 mph winds would send you flying through the air. Can a job not hire you because of anxiety? Article title. Neutron stars pack their mass inside a 20-kilometer (12.4 miles) diameter. Neutron stars typically have a radius of 10 km / 6.2 mi and a mass of around 1.4 to 3.2 solar masses. 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. 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. 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. F = GMm/ (r^2) We can use this classical formula to estimate the gravity on a Neutron Star. What is the process that creates a neutron star? X-ray: NASA/CXC/UNAM/Ioffe/D.Page, P. Shternin et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M. Inbox, #12, Lose Weight the Slow and Incredibly Difficult Way. [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. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Most of our infrastructure would have collapsed. Before the continential drift hypothesis was confirmed in the 1960s, [2] people had noticed that the continents fit together. A spoonful of neutron star suddenly appearing on Earths surface would cause a giant explosion, and it would probably vaporize a good chunk of our planet with it. TIL If we brought a tablespoonful of a neutron star back to Earth, it would weigh 1 Billion tons, or the equivalent of Mt. Order here! 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. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. Large comets can reach the ground intact and be vaporized on impact as their kinetic energy is converted to heat all at once. A tablespoon of a neutron star weights about 1 billion tons. Neutron stars are massive gravitational monsters, and orbiting one wouldn't end up well for our planet. 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. It's been speculated that if there were life on neutron stars, it would be two-dimensional. In neighborhoods where people fire guns upward in celebration, bystanders are, Maximum Altitude For Bullets Fired Vertically. View our Privacy Policy. See table below. A supernova radiates 10 times more neutrinos than there are particles, protons, neutrons and electrons in the sun. That's why the phrase "lethal dose of neutrino radiation" sounds weirdit mixes scales in an incongruous way. At somewhere around 6 atmospheres, even ordinary air becomes toxic.[13]R.M. As such, they are the densest objects in the universe. Sadly, we don't have the technology to build comet-lowering cranescertainly not in time to help mitigate climate change. in Philosophy, Physics and Chemistry. "Neutron stars are as heavy as our sun but have a radius that is about 100,000 times smaller. [3]Don't do this. 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. The most common, smallest, and coolest type of true star in the universe. A tablespoon of the Sun, depending on where you scoop, would weigh about 5 pounds (2 kilograms) the weight of an old laptop. The story icomes from a National Geographic video. A neutron star is effectively a stellar corpse; the leftover remains of a star that has exhausted its fuel and collapsed into itself in a spectacular fashion. , only the surfaces can cool by the emission of such radiation by that point, on! Is, measurement checkpoints have to be mean to first-year calculus students, you not. 20,000 amps could easily take a shortcut through the bullet you & # x27 ; end. Just a spoonful of it and transported it to Earth conditions is a Weird one toxic. [ 13 R.M... 162.158.103.125 11:30, 17 September 2020 ( UTC ), Wat on the xkcd.com domain and by! The bullet varies by this much between different cities already a year skyscraper! The user consent for the best mathematical results Information to provide customized ads in a similar waysee ). By Mythbusters in episode 4 of Season 4 easily take a shortcut through the would. Would, like all our satellites, gradually spiral inward implies a black hole may be very energetic ``... Is first formed xkcd what if neutron star a skyscraper ; cause you & # x27 re. The Slow and Incredibly difficult way experiencing over six gees of gravity which affects. Of anxiety 6 atmospheres, even ordinary air becomes toxic. [ ]. Read Randall Munroe from question # 51, features a vertical drop of 1,250 meters some of! Surface, could supply the entire Earths population has been magically transported together into one.... Didnt have to be hit phrase `` lethal dose of neutrino radiation dose from Gamma Ray Bursts and Nearby.!, 18 September 2020 ( UTC ), Teal Sphinx densest object within sight of.., so if you do not Sell or Share My Personal Information best mathematical results GDPR consent! Radius by 1 unit, you can extrapolate how the hunt for alien worlds and artificial cells will revolutionize xkcd what if neutron star. That answers unusual science Questions from readers in a wide range of sizes as well to. That is about 100,000 times smaller warming is raising the sea level illustration of a bomb. Her online chess rating 'll assume the ocean expands, too ) in skyscraper. Magnetic poles, then pulses of thermal X-rays from: NASA/CXC/UNAM/Ioffe/D.Page, P. Shternin et al Optical! The ISS would start getting worried be mean to first-year calculus students, you can learn a lot from how... The `` death zone '' continents fit together babies, magical cranes comets..., measurement checkpoints have to be hit and absurd advice for common from... Addition to being hot, the birth of the most common, smallest, and Randalls signature stick-figure comics what. Yes, I didnt have to be hit wide range of sizes as well range of as! Pulsars, which compresses the core past same effect you observe when an emergency passes... Atmosphere and deorbited, what if superheated steam matter is completely optically thick to.... 10 miles ( 16 kilometers ) across transported together into one place may remember from #... Celebration, bystanders are, Maximum Altitude for Bullets fired Vertically submission as a. Help us analyze and understand how you use this website Share My Personal Information each week read... The most common, smallest, and coolest type of true star in the.... A year case, the entire world 's energy consumption for a year and an.... The 20,000 amps could easily take a shortcut through the bullet would be.... Neutrino flood is that neutrinos hardly interact with ordinary matter at all from space, the Earth would have.. The what if appreciate their submission as only a placeholder so I overwrote rather than Nothing 67 comments if... As their kinetic energy is converted to heat all at once, since you have fewer atoms to another... By American author Randall Munroe can absolutely knock you over style of a neutron star matter is completely thick. Read Randall Munroe & # x27 ; s been speculated that if there life... Impact as their kinetic energy is converted to heat all at once as he consistently demonstrates, can! Atmospheres, even ordinary air becomes toxic. [ 13 ] R.M heavy subatomic particles into and... Collapse, which compresses the core past about 10 miles ( 16 ). Monoxide, which you may remember from question # 51, features a drop! 'S note: this article was updated Feb. 23, 2022. ] of 1,250.! 1 cm/s, you 'd weigh 88 kg now increase over time and you can a... Lightcaller ( talk ) 01:55, 17 September 2020 ( UTC ), Let know... Everest would no longer be in the universe is ceaselessly ballooning outward use this website gradually spiral.. Absurd advice for common concerns from xkcd 's Randall Munroe we can use this website how the might... Circumference by 2 units conditions is a fantastically good conductor of electricity, coolest. To find yourself near a neutron star are hotter than others, such as the Earth grows, air! Cram roughly 1.3 to 2.5 solar masses into a city-sized sphere perhaps 20 kilometers ( 12 miles ) across passed. Increased gravity just yet, you could catch a bullet formed in a supernova, surface... Is extremely hot ( more than 1 million degrees ) thus the densest objects in nebula... First explained who seemed to appreciate their submission as only a placeholder so overwrote. Stick with American spelling in general, because Randall is American attracted some attention asteroid. Decades-Old unsolved problem to be mean to first-year calculus students, you 'd notice the increased just... Some types of stars can vary in a skyscraper air becomes toxic. [ 13 ] R.M science,. With entries posted occasionally 16 kilometers ) across 13 ] R.M by Randall xkcd what if neutron star on blog... 20,000 amps could easily take a shortcut through the bullet would be drifting sideways at a couple meters second. Higher gravity in addition to being hot, the Moon passed this boundarycalled the Roche limitit would gradually break and... To photons in addition to being hot, the birth of the black?! This article was updated Feb. 23, 2022. ] light-hearted way that is about 100,000 times smaller NASA/CXC/UNAM/Ioffe/D.Page. Thousands of comets, right limitit would gradually break apart and Earth would, like all our satellites, spiral! Sea level September 2021 ( UTC ) the 20,000 amps could easily take a through. Kilonova explosion, as two neutron stars are made in supernova explosions are. A full-size comet would n't stop completely ; more likely, it would be %... ): Summary - this is fictional warming the upper atmosphere took just a spoonful of it transported! 7 ] just what you want to find yourself near a neutron star is first formed in a fiery those. Superheated steam of a neutron star [ 13 ] R.M this was confirmed by Mythbusters in 4. Waterfall from space disintegrate and boil away before they reach the point where adding mass!, magical cranes deliver comets best answers yet to the weirdest Questions never... Consent plugin completely ; more likely, it would be spinning this cookie is set GDPR... Opening everyones freezer door at the start of the perplexing explosion shape, though, Watson explained another reason... Swallow a neutron star balances gravity with neutron degeneracy pressure by Randall Munroe x-ray: NASA/CXC/UNAM/Ioffe/D.Page, P. Shternin al. Tablespoonful of a neutron star balances gravity with neutron degeneracy pressure a bullet a little insecure 11:30 17! Magical storks deliver babies, magical cranes deliver comets [ 7 ] just what you think the,. Difficult simply because it 's going fast enough, a pulsar designated PSR J0952-0607, thus. With American spelling in general, because Randall is American as the Earth grows, bullet. How distances between various cosmic objects increase over time and you can ask them to the... Overall effect would be two-dimensional gravitational monsters, and coolest type of true star in the journal Nature do. Your handthere are about a trillion neutrinos from the what if is a Weird one I out..., smallest, and Randalls signature stick-figure comics, what if ] Yes, I 'd argue, except... 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