Editing 2413: Pulsar Analogy

{{comic
| number    = 2413
| date      = January 19, 2021
| title     = Pulsar Analogy
| image     = pulsar_analogy.png
| titletext = The #2 cause of astronomer hand injuries is trying to do vector math when the second axis points off to the right.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a PULSAR. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{w|Pulsar}}s are dead stellar cores that produce fast-spinning beams of radiation. Ponytail, an astronomer in this comic, explains a pulsar's fast rotation with an analogy about a tape measure retracting. This analogy could be seen as inaccurate, considering that the tape measure starts to rotate because the spring imparts a torque on the body of the tape measure. Pulsars rotate at their extreme speeds because of the conservation of momentum, which is similar to why a tape measure rotates if the tape and the body are considered together as a unit. As a star collapses into a pulsar, its natural rotation rate is greatly amplified by its shrinking moment of inertia.

That's probably totally wrong.  But regardless, so is the idea of a laser measure being "exactly" like the emissions of a pulsar, which, although both pulse (and for the same reason), are produced in entirely different ways and are simply helping the mind hold the concept.

Retractable tape measures often have a belt clip on the side that doesn't have the label. The clip gives that side fewer points of contact on a flat surface than the flat label side would, and will spin longer because of less friction. Snapping the tape down will shorten the measure's lifespan, however: If the rivets that hold the bracket at the end of the tape shear off, the tape will tract entirely inside the measure body, and will be useless.

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

{{comic discussion}}