explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2826: Gold

2023-09-10T11:59:16Z

Biscuit42:

{{comic
| number = 2826
| date = September 8, 2023
| title = Gold
| image = gold_2x.png
| imagesize = 695x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It can be expensive to hire a professional spectroscopist for your wedding, but the quality of the spectra you get is worth it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by neutron stars in a mostly-closed relationship! Do NOT anger them OR delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic depicts a seldom heard explanation of why {{w|gold}} is a common {{w|wedding ring}} material; that humans chose it due to its symbolism in reference to its creation. Gold, as the comic states, is most commonly created by {{w|r-process}} {{w|nucleosynthesis}} in the mergers of {{w|neutron star}}s; something which could be seen as analogous to a marriage. About 94% of the gold on Earth was created this way, with the rest made by {{w|supernova nucleosynthesis}}.[https://www.science.org/content/article/neutron-star-mergers-may-create-much-universe-s-gold][https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.05463] But gold was used in wedding rings before the discovery of how it was created, thus the joke.

Wedding receptions sometimes have a ''theme'', which is used to style the decorations and activities of the party. If the couple has a shared interest in something in popular culture (especially if this is how they met), they might use that as the theme. [[Megan]] suggests that "Binary Neutron Star Merger" would be a fun theme; this would probably only be true for astronomers or cosmologists.{{citation needed}} [[Cueball]] adds that an activity at such a wedding would be ejecting the bouquet at relativistic speeds; this is a reference to the traditional activity of the bride throwing her bouquet into the crowd, and whoever catches it is predicted to be the next to get married. The collision of neutron stars ejects material with enormous amounts of energy. The ejected bouquet would therefore be traveling "{{w|Relativistic speed|relativistically}}", ie, at a high fraction of the speed of light. If you caught such a bouquet at rest relative to the merger point, [https://what-if.xkcd.com/1 you would be destroyed by the energy], so everyone tries not to catch it in that fashion.

Continuing with the cosmological theme, the title text suggests that the wedding photographer would be a spectroscopist. {{w|Spectroscopy}}, which determines the composition of materials by splitting its light into a spectrum and analyzing the wavelengths that are strong and those that are missing, is a common way to study {{w|stars}}, {{w|nebulae}}, and other astronomical phenomena.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball holding some small sparkling thing, implied to be a gold wedding ring]
:Cueball: It kinda makes sense that we use gold for wedding rings.

:[Frame shifts to Cueball's head]
:Cueball: Because a lot of the universe's gold was probably produced by R-process nucleosynthesis when pairs of neutron stars spiraled together and merged.
:Cueball: So gold exists because two neutron stars got married.

:[Megan walks in from side towards Cueball]
:Megan: "Binary neutron star merger" would be a fun wedding theme.
:Cueball: Everyone has to try '''''not''''' to catch the relativistically-ejected bouquet.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Cosmology]]

2826: Gold

2023-09-10T11:57:00Z

Biscuit42:

{{comic
| number = 2826
| date = September 8, 2023
| title = Gold
| image = gold_2x.png
| imagesize = 695x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It can be expensive to hire a professional spectroscopist for your wedding, but the quality of the spectra you get is worth it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by neutron stars in a mostly-closed relationship! Do NOT anger them OR delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic depicts a seldom heard explanation of why {{w|gold}} is a common {{w|wedding ring}} material; that humans chose it due to its symbolism in reference to its creation. Gold, as the comic states, is most commonly created by {{w|r-process}} {{w|nucleosynthesis}} in the mergers of {{w|neutron star}}s; something which could be seen as analogous to a marriage. About 94% of the gold on Earth was created this way, with the rest made by {{w|supernova nucleosynthesis}}.[https://www.science.org/content/article/neutron-star-mergers-may-create-much-universe-s-gold][https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.05463] But gold was used in wedding rings before the discovery of how it was created, thus the joke.

Wedding receptions sometimes have a ''theme'', which is used to style the decorations and activities of the party. If the couple has a shared interest in something in popular culture (especially if this is how they met), they might use that as the theme. [[Megan]] suggests that "Binary Neutron Star Merger" would be a fun theme; this would probably only be true for astronomers or cosmologists.{{citation needed}} [[Cueball]] adds that an activity at such a wedding would be ejecting the bouquet at relativistic speeds; this is a reference to the traditional activity of the bride throwing her bouquet into the crowd, and whoever catches it is predicted to be the next to get married. The collision of neutron stars ejects material with enormous amounts of energy. The ejected bouquet would therefore be traveling "{{w|Relativistic speed|relativistically}}", ie, at a high fraction of the speed of light. If you caught such a bouquet at rest relative to the merger point, you would be destroyed by the energy, so everyone tries not to catch it in that fashion.

Continuing with the cosmological theme, the title text suggests that the wedding photographer would be a spectroscopist. {{w|Spectroscopy}}, which determines the composition of materials by splitting its light into a spectrum and analyzing the wavelengths that are strong and those that are missing, is a common way to study {{w|stars}}, {{w|nebulae}}, and other astronomical phenomena.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball holding some small sparkling thing, implied to be a gold wedding ring]
:Cueball: It kinda makes sense that we use gold for wedding rings.

:[Frame shifts to Cueball's head]
:Cueball: Because a lot of the universe's gold was probably produced by R-process nucleosynthesis when pairs of neutron stars spiraled together and merged.
:Cueball: So gold exists because two neutron stars got married.

:[Megan walks in from side towards Cueball]
:Megan: "Binary neutron star merger" would be a fun wedding theme.
:Cueball: Everyone has to try '''''not''''' to catch the relativistically-ejected bouquet.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Cosmology]]

2826: Gold

2023-09-10T11:56:25Z

Biscuit42:

{{comic
| number = 2826
| date = September 8, 2023
| title = Gold
| image = gold_2x.png
| imagesize = 695x272px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = It can be expensive to hire a professional spectroscopist for your wedding, but the quality of the spectra you get is worth it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by neutron stars in a mostly-closed relationship! Do NOT anger them OR delete this tag too soon.}}

The comic depicts a seldom heard explanation of why {{w|gold}} is a common {{w|wedding ring}} material; that humans chose it due to its symbolism in reference to its creation. Gold, as the comic states, is most commonly created by {{w|r-process}} {{w|nucleosynthesis}} in the mergers of {{w|neutron star}}s; something which could be seen as analogous to a marriage. About 94% of the gold on Earth was created this way, with the rest made by {{w|supernova nucleosynthesis}}.[https://www.science.org/content/article/neutron-star-mergers-may-create-much-universe-s-gold][https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.05463] But gold was used in wedding rings before the discovery of how it was created, thus the joke.

Wedding receptions sometimes have a ''theme'', which is used to style the decorations and activities of the party. If the couple has a shared interest in something in popular culture (especially if this is how they met), they might use that as the theme. [[Megan]] suggests that "Binary Neutron Star Merger" would be a fun theme; this would probably only be true for astronomers or cosmologists.{{citation needed}} [[Cueball]] adds that an activity at such a wedding would be ejecting the bouquet at relativistic speeds; this is a reference to the traditional activity of the bride throwing her bouquet into the crowd, and whoever catches it is predicted to be the next to get married. The collision of neutron stars ejects material with enormous amounts of energy. The ejected bouquet would therefore be traveling "{{w|Relativistic speed|relativistically}}", ie, at a high fraction of the speed of light. If you caught such a bouquet at rest relative to the merger point, [{{fullurl:{{https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/}}|action=edit}} you would be destroyed]<nowiki>you would be destroyed</nowiki> by the energy, so everyone tries not to catch it in that fashion.

Continuing with the cosmological theme, the title text suggests that the wedding photographer would be a spectroscopist. {{w|Spectroscopy}}, which determines the composition of materials by splitting its light into a spectrum and analyzing the wavelengths that are strong and those that are missing, is a common way to study {{w|stars}}, {{w|nebulae}}, and other astronomical phenomena.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[Cueball holding some small sparkling thing, implied to be a gold wedding ring]
:Cueball: It kinda makes sense that we use gold for wedding rings.

:[Frame shifts to Cueball's head]
:Cueball: Because a lot of the universe's gold was probably produced by R-process nucleosynthesis when pairs of neutron stars spiraled together and merged.
:Cueball: So gold exists because two neutron stars got married.

:[Megan walks in from side towards Cueball]
:Megan: "Binary neutron star merger" would be a fun wedding theme.
:Cueball: Everyone has to try '''''not''''' to catch the relativistically-ejected bouquet.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Cosmology]]