SargothFeb 19, 2025
Person: whatcha thinkin'?
Me: saturn is twice as far away as jupiter. not twice as far from earth, mind, but from the sun. distances do not make sense out there
Person: you've been thinking this for years
Me: continuity of identity will do that to you
Sargoth4d ago
Show threadSargoth

Interestingly, one astronomical unit (AU) is 149597870700 meters. Which seems unimaginably large until you look at the last 700 meters, and go

did they put those in there just to mess with us? did they know that once you've traversed those initial 149597870000 meters, you're pretty much committed to the bit? did the lander in the Armageddon documentary (starring Bruce Willis) miss the intended landing site because someone rounded out those vital 700m?

Feb 19, 2025 at 8:49pmWeb
Show threadSargothFeb 19, 2025
*wakes up from deep cryosleep, to a scene of chaos. in the distance, someone in uniform speaks with barely contained panic*
"captain. we missed the alpha centauri system by half a mile"
Show threadSargothFeb 19, 2025
speaking of cosmic movies
if you're planning a movie date, consider pairing up Armageddon and Melancholia
the order matters less than the juxtaposition. they're the US and EU interpretations of the AU
Show threadSargothFeb 19, 2025
so how long is it to the oort cloud, in AUs
"seventy five"
ah, that makes sens-
"thousand"
gosh darn it universe, you did it again, flummoxed and befuddled me with your utter disregard for my sense of scale
Show threadSargothMar 25, 2025
Am I still thinking about how AUs have that extra 700m bit at the end?
yes
yes I am
is in in a vaguely inspiring way?
strangely enough also yes