Editing 2310: Great Attractor
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
+ | {{incomplete|Created by a Greatly Attractive SpaceBORG9o. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. Needs reference to Dark Flow.}} | ||
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[[Cueball]] comments on the fact that as summer approaches, the sun rises earlier and sets later, a common topic of conversation, especially to complain that it is still light at times of day where you are used to it being dark out. [[Beret Guy]] comments that he fell off of the wall this morning, a seemingly unconnected topic. | [[Cueball]] comments on the fact that as summer approaches, the sun rises earlier and sets later, a common topic of conversation, especially to complain that it is still light at times of day where you are used to it being dark out. [[Beret Guy]] comments that he fell off of the wall this morning, a seemingly unconnected topic. | ||
− | People will often complain about falling out of bed as an indicator of having slept badly. The later sunset is [https://www.insider.com/why-its-hard-to-sleep-in-the-summer-2018-6 | + | People will often complain about falling out of bed as an indicator of having slept badly. The later sunset is often linked to worsened sleep [https://www.insider.com/why-its-hard-to-sleep-in-the-summer-2018-6]. However, Beret Guy didn't fall from the bed, he fell from the wall. While being able to figure out he's talking about his worsened sleep, Cueball is understandably confused, so Beret Guy clarifies. |
− | Beret Guy is strongly affected by the {{w|Great Attractor}}, a large gravitational anomaly that influences the galaxies near it, but is difficult to observe directly. Beret Guy claims that the Great Attractor pulls on him unusually hard, which could be another one of his [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers]]. This attraction, while not overpowering the gravity of the | + | Beret Guy is strongly affected by the {{w|Great Attractor}}, a large gravitational anomaly that influences the galaxies near it, but is difficult to observe directly. Beret Guy claims that the Great Attractor pulls on him unusually hard, which could be another one of his [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers]]. This attraction, while not overpowering the gravity of the earth, (he states that he can "Jump extra high" in the title text) affects his life greatly. |
− | + | While 'normal' people can probably (if uncomfortably) lie down on the top of a boundary wall, for Beret Guy his attraction to the Great Attractor means that, at various times, like now, he can lie on the vertical surface of any wall (external or internal) that is currently orientated in a fortuitous direction (i.e. facing south). He fell off of the wall this morning due the Great Attractor being below him during daylight hours and on the horizon during night hours. Maybe because the day starts earlier in the summer, he fell down unexpectedly. Although the location of the Great Attractor should not be linked directly to daylight here on Earth. | |
− | He gives a short explanation of which Attractor he refers to (the space one) and why the Great Attractor affects him. According to his | + | He gives a short explanation of which Attractor he refers to (the space one) and why the Great Attractor affects him. According to his doctor it is apparently caused by the motion of galaxies and how many dimensions his bones have. Since having less than 3 spatial dimensions would surely lead to trouble, his bones may be existing in more dimensions than our normal 3 dimensions of space and 1 of time... Galactic motions normally has no significant effect on a person with 3-D bones. |
Beret Guy then says that day-sliding season is near, due to the Great Attractor being at the horizon in the day, and offers to run errands for Cueball in the South, implying that he will be pulled towards the south during day-sliding season, and can run much faster in that direction. | Beret Guy then says that day-sliding season is near, due to the Great Attractor being at the horizon in the day, and offers to run errands for Cueball in the South, implying that he will be pulled towards the south during day-sliding season, and can run much faster in that direction. | ||
− | Beret Guy is not standing straight up during this comic, he has one knee slightly bent towards Cueball in the first two panels. This is because it is evening (8:00 PM as Cueball states) and the Great Attractor is now coming near the horizon, where it will be during the night. So Beret Guy will be pulled towards the south, behind him in the comic, and thus leans away from the pull. In the final panel, when he leaves Cueball, moving right towards south and into the pull, he can | + | Beret Guy is not standing straight up during this comic, he has one knee slightly bent towards Cueball in the first two panels. This is because it is evening (8:00 PM as Cueball states) and the Great Attractor is now coming near the horizon, where it will be during the night. So Beret Guy will be pulled towards the south, behind him in the comic, and thus leans away from the pull. In the final panel, when he leaves Cueball, moving right towards south and into the pull, he can bee seen sliding along the ground without walking. He leans a bit back to not stumble forward. His last sentence also indicates that he either speeds up or that he is a little uncertain on his feet altering his voice. |
He mentions that at the moment during day-time the Great Attractor is beneath him so he can stand straight. He then just feels a little heavier (he will thus weigh more than another person with the same mass). | He mentions that at the moment during day-time the Great Attractor is beneath him so he can stand straight. He then just feels a little heavier (he will thus weigh more than another person with the same mass). | ||
− | In the title text he says he liked living in the south because the Great Attractor was often above him, meaning he could jump higher with the help of | + | In the title text he says he liked living in the south because the Great Attractor was often above him, meaning he could jump higher with the help of it's pull (and would weigh less than a normal person with same mass). Since he could jump, the force is clearly weaker than Earth's gravity, but still enough for him to easily slide over the ground when it is near the horizon. So he could likely win some high jump competitions if he wished so. |
− | Being Beret Guy, he is never really unhappy, so he states that he also likes it here (in the north). But then | + | Being Beret Guy, he is never really unhappy, so he states that he also likes it here (in the north). But then continues to comment on how easy it will be for him to get to the south. Because if he entirely stopped bracing himself against the pull by crouching into a more spherical shape, and just waited for the Great Attractor to get near the horizon again, then the pull would cause him to start rolling over the ground to some place with lower net gravitational potential, i.e. further south, where the Great Attractor will be more directly over his head. |
− | A prior example of an xkcd character with alternate gravitational susceptibility is [[417: The Man Who Fell Sideways]], where a consistent off-vertical pull somehow applies (rather than one linked to a spot on the stellar sphere). | + | A prior example of an xkcd character with alternate gravitational susceptibility is [[417: The Man Who Fell Sideways]], where a consistent off-vertical pull somehow applies (rather than one linked to a spot on the stellar sphere) while other fictional examples of '[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/872243.The_Revolving_Boy personalised]' [https://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Tethys gravitational] [https://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Sally_Cambric susceptibilities] also exist, in various forms. |
− | + | Beret Guy has previously been interested in strange attracting forces in the universe, in [[502: Dark Flow]], where he hoped it was his mom and wished she would pull on him. It was though not about the Great Attractor, and the force did not clearly affect him. Although his love for his mom did affect two space probes, as mentioned in the title text... | |
− | + | ===More detail=== | |
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Some of the humor of the comic has to do with the immense differences in scale between Beret Guy and the Great Attractor. | Some of the humor of the comic has to do with the immense differences in scale between Beret Guy and the Great Attractor. | ||
− | In very round numbers our own {{w|Milky Way}} galaxy is 150,000 - 200,000 light years across. It is just one of several galaxies in something called the {{w|Local Group}}, which is around 10,000,000 light years across. And the Local Group is itself in something called the {{w|Virgo Supercluster|Local Supercluster}} (also called the Virgo Supercluster), around 110,000,000 light years across. Each galaxy, each group, and each | + | In very round numbers our own {{w|Milky Way}} galaxy is 150,000 - 200,000 light years across. It is just one of several galaxies in something called the {{w|Local Group}}, which is around 10,000,000 light years across. And the Local Group is itself in something called the {{w|Virgo Supercluster|Local Supercluster}} (also called the Virgo Supercluster), around 110,000,000 light years across. Each galaxy, each group, and each supercluster is not just a chance alignment, but is a gravitationally coherent structure. |
Something unpredictable (hence "anomalous") is going on with the galaxies in the Local Supercluster (including our own). These galaxies are indeed accelerating away from one another as seen by their red shift. {{w|Hubble's Law}} predicts the expansion should be uniformly proportional to their distance from Earth and from one another. But for the Local Supercluster something is restricting the expansion. That something is, as "viewed" from Earth, somewhere in the direction of the Southern Triangle constellation but 250,000,000 light years distant, and has (but only since 1988) been termed the Great Attractor. The Great Attractor can't conveniently be seen at visible wavelengths, because that direction is the so-called {{w|Zone of Avoidance}}: the area of the night sky obscured by our own Milky Way. | Something unpredictable (hence "anomalous") is going on with the galaxies in the Local Supercluster (including our own). These galaxies are indeed accelerating away from one another as seen by their red shift. {{w|Hubble's Law}} predicts the expansion should be uniformly proportional to their distance from Earth and from one another. But for the Local Supercluster something is restricting the expansion. That something is, as "viewed" from Earth, somewhere in the direction of the Southern Triangle constellation but 250,000,000 light years distant, and has (but only since 1988) been termed the Great Attractor. The Great Attractor can't conveniently be seen at visible wavelengths, because that direction is the so-called {{w|Zone of Avoidance}}: the area of the night sky obscured by our own Milky Way. | ||
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Cueball and Beret Guy stand next to each other, talking | + | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
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+ | :[Cueball and Beret Guy stand next to each other, talking.] | ||
:Cueball: I can't believe it's still light out. It's 8:00 PM! | :Cueball: I can't believe it's still light out. It's 8:00 PM! | ||
:Beret Guy: Seriously! This morning I fell off the wall. | :Beret Guy: Seriously! This morning I fell off the wall. | ||
− | :[In a | + | :[In a frameless panel, Cueball and Beret Guy are still standing and talking. Beret Guy is gesturing to the right.] |
:Cueball: Wait, why were you sleeping on the wall? | :Cueball: Wait, why were you sleeping on the wall? | ||
:Beret Guy: The Great Attractor is near the horizon at night right now. | :Beret Guy: The Great Attractor is near the horizon at night right now. | ||
− | :[ | + | :[A regular panel, zoomed in on Beret Guy, who is gesturing to the left.] |
− | :Cueball (off | + | :Cueball (off screen): The Great Attractor? |
:Beret Guy: Yeah! The space one. | :Beret Guy: Yeah! The space one. | ||
:Beret Guy: It pulls on me extra hard. Doctors said it's something to do with galactic motion and how many dimensions my bones have. | :Beret Guy: It pulls on me extra hard. Doctors said it's something to do with galactic motion and how many dimensions my bones have. | ||
− | :[Cueball | + | :[Zoomed back out to show Cueball, standing still, and Beret Guy, who is sliding away to the right.] |
:Beret Guy: This time of year, it's below us all day, so I stand vertically. But day-sliding season is near! | :Beret Guy: This time of year, it's below us all day, so I stand vertically. But day-sliding season is near! | ||
:Beret Guy: Let me know if you have any errands to run to the south! | :Beret Guy: Let me know if you have any errands to run to the south! | ||
− | :Beret Guy: | + | :Beret Guy: ''Goodniiighttt'' |
{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
− | + | [[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]] | |
− | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | + | [[Category: Comics featuring Beret Guy]] |
− | [[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy | ||
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