https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=141.101.77.5explain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-06-24T16:24:29ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2717:_L6_Lagrange_Point&diff=303645Talk:2717: L6 Lagrange Point2022-12-29T09:26:34Z<p>141.101.77.5: </p>
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Daily comics. —[[User:While False|While False]] ([[User:While False/explain xkcd museum|'''museum''']] | [[User talk:While False|talk]] | [[special:Contributions/While_False|contributions]] | [[special:Log/While_False|logs]] | [[Special:UserRights/While_False|rights]] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&printable=yes printable version] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=User:While_False&action=info page information] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Special:WhatLinksHere/User:While_False what links there] | [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Special:RecentChangesLinked&days=30&from=&target=User%3AWhile_False related changes] | a late contribution | current time: {{CURRENTTIME}}) 19:05, 27 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
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This came out about a year after JWST was launched, and it's stationed at a Lagrange point of the Sun and Earth. It might be related to the anniversary, although it would make more sense if it came out in a month, on the anniversary of the telescope reaching L2. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 20:49, 27 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
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Missed opportunity to reference [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Grange,_Texas La Grange, Texas], the basis of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Grange_(song) song] by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZZ_Top ZZ Top]. [[User:RandalSchwartz|RandalSchwartz]] ([[User talk:RandalSchwartz|talk]]) 21:13, 27 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
: Well I hear it's fine, if you got the time [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.5|108.162.249.5]] 13:55, 28 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
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Not ''probable'' but maybe a reference to the recent "Ohio" meme?[[Special:Contributions/172.71.82.41|172.71.82.41]] 22:14, 27 December 2022 (UTC)Bumpf<br />
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Probably not on purpose but it definitely fits in with the rest of the “Ohio” memes<br />
22:38 27 December 2022 (ETC) Comi123<br />
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;Can I use a subscript notation in the transcript?<br />
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Any clues where to find the code? Comic seems to have the numeral portions of "L1" to "L6" as subscripts. Is that a standard notation for Lagrange points, if so should we ualso use it in the main article? [[Special:Contributions/172.68.66.102|172.68.66.102]] 06:14, 28 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
:Sure. Use HTML &lt;sub> tags. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.154.39|172.71.154.39]] 07:41, 28 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
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Why Cleveland? Well, Yakov Smirnoff said, "In every country, they make fun of city. In U.S. you make fun of Cleveland. In Russia, we make fun of Cleveland." [[Special:Contributions/172.71.26.168|172.71.26.168]] 12:14, 28 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
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The center of the Earth is also a Lagrange point (I think I'll call it L<sub>0</sub>). So Lagrange, OH is only 4,000 miles off, which should be close enough for many astronomers. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.135.100|172.70.135.100]] 16:12, 28 December 2022 (UTC)<br />
:Well, LaGrange, OH is in a stable orbit around L<sub>0</sub>, so would this also be a Halo orbit? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.77.5|141.101.77.5]] 09:26, 29 December 2022 (UTC)</div>141.101.77.5https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2717:_L6_Lagrange_Point&diff=3036442717: L6 Lagrange Point2022-12-29T09:22:39Z<p>141.101.77.5: I don't think the joke has anything to do with the reputation of Cleveland, but only the name of the village of LaGrange.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2717<br />
| date = December 27, 2022<br />
| title = L6 Lagrange Point<br />
| image = l6_lagrange_point_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 399x400px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = It's difficult to orbit L6 stably due to gravitational perturbation from Akron and Toledo.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by a LANDED LAGRANGE POINT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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In celestial mechanics, the {{w|Lagrange point}}s are points of equilibrium for small-mass objects under the influence of two massive orbiting bodies. Or in simpler terms, positions in space where objects can float motionless relative to the defining bodies. The L<sub>1</sub>, L<sub>2</sub>, and L<sub>3</sub> points are unstable, as any drifting off the point (e.g. due to the gravity of other bodies) might quickly increase the tendency to depart the area. However, there are quasi-stable {{w|Halo orbit}}s around these points, like the one used by the {{w|James Webb Space Telescope}}. The L<sub>4</sub> and L<sub>5</sub> points can actually retain objects stably over long periods, resulting in the Sun-Jupiter L<sub>4</sub> and L<sub>5</sub> points capturing the {{w|Trojan (celestial_body)|Trojan Asteroids}}.<br />
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There are five traditional Lagrange points. Two form equilateral triangles with the two massive objects (in this case the Earth and the Sun), and three more are collinear with the massive objects. Randall claims that a sixth Lagrange point has been discovered outside of {{w|Cleveland}}, {{w|Ohio}}. This is pretty obviously farcical, as this would be part of the Earth and thus not gravitationally balanced between Earth and the Sun, though it is balanced by the countering forces that hold anything stable on the surface of any body: {{w|gravity}} and {{w|electromagnetism}}. The joke here is that there actually is a small village named {{w|LaGrange, Ohio|LaGrange, OH}} (population 2,103) just outside of Cleveland ([https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lagrange,+OH+44050/ map]). However, the village name is spelled with a capital G, unlike {{w|Joseph-Louis Lagrange}} after which the Lagrange points were named.<br />
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The title text mentions {{w|Akron}} and {{w|Toledo,_Ohio|Toledo}}, two other large cities in Ohio. It says that their gravitational influence is the reason why orbits around the LaGrange L6 are unstable. Trying to orbit around a point on the ground would, of course, run into much more serious problems, such as the ground.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:Grey on white diagram of the Earth orbiting the Sun, not to scale. Earth is depicted as a circle with pale grey continents on darker grey seas, and shows a view from above the North Pole without any Arctic ice. The sun is drawn surrounded by radially symmetrical exaggerated wave pattern.<br />
:Also in grey, approximate locations of Lagrange points 1 to 5 are marked with dots and labels: "L<sub>1</sub>" "L<sub>2</sub>" "L<sub>3</sub>" "L<sub>4</sub>" "L<sub>5</sub>". <br />
:In black, a point on the Earth's surface within the boundary of a continent that could be North America. Also in black, an arrow pointing towards the point, and the label "L<sub>6</sub>".<br />
:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Huge space news: Astronomers have discovered a new Lagrange point just outside Cleveland.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Astronomy]]<br />
[[Category:Science]] <!-- This is a supercategory to Astronomy; should this comic then belong directly to Science? --></div>141.101.77.5