Editing 2854: Date Line
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | The {{w|International Date Line}} is a nominal line on Earth near the {{w|180th meridian|antimeridian (180°)}} that | + | {{incomplete|Created by a SNAGGED LINE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
+ | The {{w|International Date Line}} is a nominal line on Earth near the {{w|180th meridian|antimeridian (180°)}} that marks where travel across will require your clock to be adjusted by a full day (forwards or backwards), give or take the 'normal' time of day adjustment. It is one of three situations where the date might change for you, the usual one being when (in your time zone) you pass from the hour of 11 pm across beyond midnight but also if you travel between any other time zones at such a time (usually being a window of just one hour) where one is pre-midnight and the other post-midnight. | ||
− | + | Most people don't travel at or around midnight, and just being awake as the clocks tick over is not often such a remarkable thing other than to perhaps mark reaching a special date (significant birthdays, perhaps, or {{w|New Year's Day}}), but travel across or between areas of east and west Pacific (or [[503: Terminology|vice-versa]]) is not so uncommon yet comes with it the special need to effectively adjust your watch by a full day (plus or minus any other time to be adjusted). | |
− | The International Date Line is not a physical string,{{Citation needed}} and therefore could not be caught by a rocket. It should also be noted that the International Date Line is not straight, but extends either side of the antimeridian to avoid confusion on internal land journeys (like Russia, {{w|Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|a portion of which}} overlaps the antimeridian), similarly cutting off 'nearby' outlying island territories | + | The International Date Line is not a physical string,{{Citation needed}} and therefore could not be caught by a rocket. It should also be noted that the International Date Line is not a straight line, but extends either side of the antimeridian to avoid confusion on internal land journeys (like Russia, {{w|Chukotka Autonomous Okrug|a portion of which}} overlaps the antimeridian), similarly cutting off 'nearby' outlying island territories, adding needless complexity {{w|Tokelau#Timezone|when dealing with chosen trading partners}}, or simply so that countries can claim 'first' in experiencing the new day. |
− | Based | + | Based off what is shown in the comic, the rocket could have been launched by the Russians (e.g. from the {{w|Vostochny Cosmodrome}}), but the caption implies that the American space agency is the one expecting to resolve the issue (whoever's original error it was), and all orbital flights are pretty much guaranteed to cross (over) the dateline at some point in the initial track. Of course, the odds of a rocket getting stuck on such a line (if it existed) would be incredibly slim. Additionally, striking such an object wouldn’t trap the rocket. Instead, the rocket would undergo what many [[:Category:Kerbal Space Program|KSP]] users have encountered, a Rapid Unplanned Disassembly. |
− | The | + | The title text suggests that this event has messed up the normal regulation of time, and is somehow unsafe to 'use' as a result, so people should pause their usage of it by stopping their clocks and calendars. Also, because time is not behaving normally, ‘they’ can’t give a time for when it will be fixed. If, say, it was 8:00 when the rocket got snagged, then it is 8:00 until they fix it. This means that no matter how much time passes, until they fix it, it will remain 8:00. in reality, even if a physical dateline did exist, and if disturbing it were to mess up our ability to measure time, synchronise clocks, and so on, time itself would continue to flow regardless, and pausing one's clock would have no effect on this. |
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
− | :[The earth, with the | + | :[The earth, with the date line as a physical band being pulled off of the surface by a rocket, cutting into the land on the other side.] |
− | : | + | :Caption: Timekeeping announcement: a rocket accidentally became snagged on the international date line during launch. Please pause all clocks and calendars until NASA is able to free it and safely resume the normal flow of time. |
− | :Timekeeping announcement: | ||
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
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* The [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/date_line.png standard size] image was uploaded with a resolution/size larger than the supposed 2x version. | * The [https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/date_line.png standard size] image was uploaded with a resolution/size larger than the supposed 2x version. | ||
* This may have been an error. | * This may have been an error. | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} |