cubinator

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Well, keep in mind that Uranus and Neptune are kind of like "super super-Earths" themselves, so I find it believable that something a little smaller could have been out there too. I don't think a rogue exoplanet makes more sense at all, because interstellar space is really big.

What happened to the other planet? A grazing blow surely wouldn't have destroyed it completely, especially against a ball of gas rather than rock? Why isn't there an Earth-sized planet in the outer solar system? These answers are creating so many more questions, and I love it.

We should just call the planet "Caelus" instead. Petition the IAU?

I wonder if it's possible the core could still be more or less aligned with the ecliptic while the atmosphere above rotates along a different axis. This could explain why the magnetic field is still oriented normally.

I think most of the mass is pretty low, so it should be fine.

Row meat Live feesh Scrumin birt Remember. Freeje was not invented yet!

I have the perfect link for this thread... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWFe7qVbbY0

I lost the game

Yes, that is completely true.

Today it rained a bunch in the morning and there was lots of lightning, but it cleared up in the afternoon.

Technically it's a Revolutionary War reenactment.

There wasn't a message. The mods are becoming self-aware!

I have a paper bag full of just pieces from that series, and I once made a whole moon base on those big plates with a couple of spaceships and a landing pad.

Couldn't we just solve this experimentally by making the Mun really small in KSP and slinging ships at it?

You ever see any giant wetas?

epi*i = -1

Unclickable

The other day I learned about a new speedcubing method that could allow me to get significantly faster (Roux). It's essentially three steps instead of four, so I think if I learn it well I could bring my times down a lot. Maybe I can even start seeing sub-10 second solves commonly...

There is, but it's secret.

I believe it is possible for a human brain to visualize four-dimensional space, with at least simple objects like a hypercube or perhaps a Penrose triangle. If you had a very, very good idea of the theory of how light behaves, and also managed to get your brain to see in 4D, you might be able to "see" what a light beam really does as it travels through space. But it would be really hard to pull off.

I think light has more than three dimensions at a small scale, so it makes sense for it to be difficult to visualize.

I really hope that isn't a screencap from an actual movie with that exact scenario as a plot point...but I know deep down that it is... It's actually really good to get them to understand it, though. Kudos to you for explaining it to people! (Also I am going to help out at a star party soon and now I might bring this up for the kids... ) There certainly would, but the whole deal would only be very noticeable for a few meters around the black hole, so you wouldn't even notice it from Earth. Good, then we're on the same page. It might be helpful to enumerate those in the OP.

Earth's sky would become significantly less interesting (no chance of even seeing it through a telescope!). A bunch of people freak out, believing it signals the end of the world. Then nothing else changes. The tides keep coming, and even the satellites orbiting the moon keep right on orbiting*. Space agencies around the world quickly figure out that the moon has suddenly and inexplicably become much smaller, and begin to use what instruments they can on their moon satellites to try to learn about the new object. They move as close as they can, but can't get everything they need without constructing a new, specialized probe. They quickly gain the support needed for this, and some years later it is launched. But before then, KSP players are among the first to bring up the amazing potential - the Oberth effect near the tiny black hole would allow spacecraft to reach distant destinations, fast, as long as they can hold together under the tidal forces. Space probes only need the delta-V to arrive at the Moon to flyby any planet. Space agencies take advantage of this quickly, and we start sending out more space probes than ever, and more cheaply too. Eventually, Mars colonists slingshot past the Moon for a quicker journey in deep space. *Could someone please verify these two points with math? Keep in mind that the gravity of all the worlds in KSP is basically like a tiny black hole in the center of the planet that carries all its mass, and these still act like normal planets gravitationally (for the most part).

It rained today.