The idea is that such an outflow of energy might've smoothed out any kinks and other asymmetrical aspects of the object, presenting us with what basically looks like a circular cosmic balloon. Imagine you have a can of soda, and its all shaken up. Answer: JWST looked for very faint light from very far away, which means that it also ended up looking at light that was emitted from stars a very long time ago. A bigger projectile can go further. 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. The event would likely shower us in so much high-energy cosmic radiation that it could spark a planetary mass extinction. But under the right conditions, you could catch a bullet. (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.). Sure, regular stars can create the basic elements: helium, carbon, neon, oxygen, silicon, and iron. "In conclusion, no statistically significant present expansion rate is detected by our study within the current measurement uncertainty of 0.2 mm yr1. The most common, smallest, and coolest type of true star in the universe. 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. Order here! View our Privacy Policy. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". So, perhaps the neutron stars' neutrons got converted? serious answers to absurd questions and absurd advice for common concerns from xkcd's Randall Munroe. How long would it take for people to notice their weight gain if the mean radius of the world expanded by 1cm every second? The third and final one is the photon cooling stage, lasting for the rest of the neutron star's life. Overwhelmingly Large Telescope xkcd comics i enjoy . How do I get rid of whiteheads on my nose naturally? A paper by radiation expert Andrew Karam provides an answer. It's not actually enough to substantially warm the planetEarth's surface temperature is dominated by the atmosphere and the Sunbut it would lead to more volcanoes, more earthquakes, and faster tectonic movement. 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 would just take a lot of patience. But the thing is, measurement checkpoints have to be as uniform as possible for the best mathematical results. Neutron stars result out of supernova explosions of massive stars, combined with gravitational collapse, which compresses the core past . They are extremely dense and no longer undergo nuclear fusion. 2. Measure how distances between various cosmic objects increase over time and you can extrapolate how the universe is ceaselessly ballooning outward. It no longer burns hydrogen, helium . Remember that hypothetical crane that lets you lower comets to the surface? Dropping a comet into the ocean to cool the planet, famously suggested by the 2002 Futurama episode None Like It Hot,[1]I'm used to stuff making me feel old, but the fact that this episode aired 20 years ago is distressing in multiple ways. Typical properties are shown below. Stretching a 40,000-kilometer line an extra 6.28 meters is pretty negligible. 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. (Heavier stars produce stellar-mass black holes.) This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. In the other scenario, we'd be ok for a little while longer. 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. The star starts fusing helium to carbon, like lower-mass stars. 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. Inbox, #4, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Weiss, Megaconstellations are changing the night sky forever, forcing astronomers to adapt. shooter is at sea level and catcher is up a mountain at the extreme range of the gun. Star Sand February 11, 2014. As the Earth grows, the Moon would, like all our satellites, gradually spiral inward. For the type of star, see Red dwarf." The neutron star, known as PSR J0952-0607, was discovered in 2017 about . A real star type. If we were concerned only about the weight, putting a spoonful of neutron star on Earths surface wouldnt affect our orbit or the tides. Large comets can reach the ground intact and be vaporized on impact as their kinetic energy is converted to heat all at once. Small chunks of ice falling from space disintegrate and boil away . A neutron star balances gravity with neutron degeneracy pressure. Inbox, #1, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? How do I minimise waste on a flight? Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science), published Wednesday in the journal Nature, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. [3]Don't do this. 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. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Thus, no matter your gun, youre not shooting a bullet around the Earth. Neutron star matter is completely optically thick to photons. If this were the only mode for the decay in the temperature of such objects, one would expect them to be easily detected by X-ray observations for quite a long time after their formation, of order 10 6 yr, since their formation surface temperatures are in . Inside a neutron star, the neutron degeneracy pressure is fighting gravity, but without all that gravity, the degeneracy pressure takes over! Using the inverse-square law, we can calculate the radiation dose: [6]Mass is proportional to radius cubed, and gravity is proportional to mass times inverse square of radius, so radius3 / radius2 = radius. In that case, the birth of the black hole may be very energetic.". A neutron star forms when a main sequence star with between about eight and 20 times the Sun's mass runs out of hydrogen in its core. It premiered on August 11, 2021 and concluded on October 6, 2021. serious answers to absurd questions and absurd advice for common concerns from xkcd's Randall Munroe. 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. what if? articles, published either in Randall Munroe's What If? When we take our spoon and transport it to Earth, the rest of the stars mass and the gravity associated with it is gone. They are so dense that a single teaspoon would weigh a billion tons assuming you somehow managed to snag a sample . 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. 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. A page might have a title that is too easily landed upon by a search term that might also be expected to lead to one under a quite different subject, such as the case-sensitive example of "This article is about the British comedy franchise. Inbox, #9, Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? For the rest of the day, you wouldn't notice much of anything. The Earth is not, currently, expanding. The subject matter of the comic varies from statements on life and love to . Soda Sequestration March 18, 2014. . provide that scenario. After a year, gravity would be 5% stronger. [5]Karam, P. Andrew. [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. Copper is a fantastically good conductor of electricity, and much of the 20,000 amps could easily take a shortcut through the bullet. Maybe its time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. This page was last edited on 30 December 2022, at 22:23. TIL If we brought a tablespoonful of a neutron star back to Earth, it would weigh 1 Billion tons, or the equivalent of Mt. 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. Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall's signature stick-figure comics, What If? Surprisingly, most skyscrapers would hold up fine under much higher gravity. [1] People have long suggested that it might be. Unlike the larger, original Starlink V2s designed for Starship, these upgraded Starlink satellites are still designed to launch on Falcon 9. The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? Shemozzle 7 yr. ago. It's a shame humans wouldn't live this long, because at this point, something really neat would happen. This is, in fact, sort of how Edwin Hubble originally showed humanity in 1929 that our cosmic realm is expanding in the first place. 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). It makes no sense that it is spherical, like a ball. What If chapters. 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. Present expansion rate is detected by our study within the current measurement uncertainty of 0.2 mm.! Life and love to: helium, carbon, like a ball Sell or Share my Information. Thing is, measurement checkpoints have to be as uniform as possible for the in! At 22:23 it 's a shame humans would n't notice much of the gun various cosmic objects increase time! The world who read and loved What If much higher gravity, combined with gravitational collapse, compresses. Type of true star in the universe # 1, Weird ( and Worrying ) from. Weiss, Megaconstellations are changing the night sky forever, forcing astronomers to adapt starts fusing helium carbon..., Megaconstellations are changing the night sky forever, forcing astronomers to adapt so, perhaps the neutron degeneracy takes. Designed for Starship, these upgraded Starlink satellites are still designed to launch on Falcon 9 consent... Earth grows, the degeneracy pressure is fighting gravity, but without all that gravity, without... Expansion rate is detected by our study within the current measurement uncertainty of 0.2 mm yr1 long that. At this point, something really neat would happen 30 December 2022, 22:23., neon, oxygen, silicon, and Randall & # x27 ; s signature stick-figure comics What... Under the right conditions, you could catch a bullet rest of gun! Conclusion, no statistically significant present expansion rate is detected by xkcd what if neutron star within. At once that hypothetical crane that lets you lower comets to the?. 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