11–20 of 49 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Small typo: "Neutron stars to not hang, fixed in space" I'm guessing that it should be "do not"
Probably another typo: "planet our side" -> "planet our size"? Also, this is a beautiful piece of writing! I love it.
Thank you or sharing your appreciation. I will treasure that.
Binaries almost never form from stars “wandering” and “encountering” other stars. Current scientific understanding is that almost all stars are formed as binaries in the first place.
https://github.com/raganwald/braythwayt.com/commit/113f94686...
From Wikipedia: While it is not impossible that some binaries might be created through gravitational capture between two single stars, given the very low likelihood of such an event (three objects are actually required, as conservation of energy rules out a single gravitating body capturing another) and the high number of binaries, this cannot be the primary formation process. Also, the observation of binaries consisting of pre main-sequence stars, supports the theory that binaries are already formed during star formation. Fragmentation of the molecular cloud during the formation of protostars is an acceptable explanation for the formation of a binary or multiple star system.
Disclosure: A rare self-post. I'd be very grateful for any and all corrections to the story, as I am far from an expert is astrophysics, geology, or pretty-much anything else.
Kilograms are a measure of mass, not weight. Pounds would be a more appropriate unit there.
Disclosure: A rare self-post. I'd be very grateful for any and all corrections to the story, as I am far from an expert is astrophysics, geology, or pretty-much anything else.
> I would have found that while my scale tells me that I am about 86 kilograms on Earth, I would have weighed 8.6 trillion kilograms on this neutron star. Kilograms are a measure of mass, not weight. Pounds would be a more appropriate unit there.
Disclosure: A rare self-post. I'd be very grateful for any and all corrections to the story, as I am far from an expert is astrophysics, geology, or pretty-much anything else.
> I would have found that while my scale tells me that I am about 86 kilograms on Earth, I would have weighed 8.6 trillion kilograms on this neutron star. Kilograms are a measure of mass, not weight. Pounds would be a more appropriate unit there.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I would have found that while my scale tells me that I am about 86 kilograms on Earth, I would have weighed 8.6 trillion kilograms on this neutron star. Kilograms are a measure of mass, not weight. Pounds would be a more appropriate unit there.
Most of the people world weigh themselves in kilograms.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I would have found that while my scale tells me that I am about 86 kilograms on Earth, I would have weighed 8.6 trillion kilograms on this neutron star. Kilograms are a measure of mass, not weight. Pounds would be a more appropriate unit there.
Most of the people world weigh themselves in kilograms.
It's an easy shorthand for the most part, since we're not 'weighing' ourselves in space, on the moon, etc, but in an article about space and physics and whatnot, it can come off as a bit sloppy.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most of the people world weigh themselves in kilograms.
They roughly infer their mass (in kilograms) by assuming 9.8m/s/s gravitational acceleration and using a scale to judge how much mass the resulting 'push' would require given that pull. A scale would tell you that you weight slightly less at the top of a mountain than at sea level, though in reality you'd have the same mass. Same is true on a neutron star. It's an easy shorthand for the most part, since we're not 'we…
So, thank you.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I would have found that while my scale tells me that I am about 86 kilograms on Earth, I would have weighed 8.6 trillion kilograms on this neutron star. Kilograms are a measure of mass, not weight. Pounds would be a more appropriate unit there.
https://github.com/raganwald/braythwayt.com/commit/b79d17066...