https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Rjp0iexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-19T10:20:21ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2358:_Gravitational_Wave_Pulsars&diff=1971002358: Gravitational Wave Pulsars2020-09-13T02:51:07Z<p>Rjp0i: </p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2358<br />
| date = September 11, 2020<br />
| title = Gravitational Wave Pulsars<br />
| image = gravitational_wave_pulsars.png<br />
| titletext = The most important attributes of a vector in 3-space are {Location, Location, Location}<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created WITH EXQUISITE TIMING. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} <br />
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{{w|Radio astronomy|Radio astronomers}} use {{w|pulsars}} to try to detect {{w|gravitational waves}}. They do this by tracking the rotation of an array of pulsars, super precisely over long periods of time, and fitting for a whole bunch of effects. The process is called {{w|Gravitational_wave#Using_pulsar_timing_arrays|"pulsar timing"}}, or just "timing" for short.<br />
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[[Ponytail]] presents this to [[Cueball]] as a joke. Specifically, a joke about comedy. One of the most important aspects of comedy is revealing the punchline with correct timing. Ponytail sets Cueball up for a joke like: "Ask me what the secret of comedy is." / "What's the secret--" / "Timing!" In this format, the punchline ("Timing!") deliberately comes too soon, which makes it funny because the timing is bad. Ponytail also replaces the secret to comedy with the secret to detecting gravitational waves with pulsars, to set up the joke about the word "timing".<br />
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The title text references a well-known real estate saying that the three most important parts are "location, location, location." In 3D {{w|Euclidean space}}, the three {{w|Cartesian coordinates}} (X, Y, Z) all refer to locations along an axis.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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:[Single panel with Ponytail and Cueball standing facing each other]<br />
:Ponytail: Ask me what the secret to detecting gravitational waves using pulsars is.<br />
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:Cueball: What's the secret to detecting grav&mdash;<br />
<br />
:Ponytail: '''''Timing!'''''<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category: Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category: Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category: Astronomy]]</div>Rjp0i