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by acallaha 1459 days ago
Here's a question to give you a sense of scale: Which of the following would be brighter, in terms of the amount of energy delivered to your retina:

1. A supernova, seen from as far away as the Sun is from the Earth, or

2. The detonation of a hydrogen bomb pressed against your eyeball?

Applying the physicist rule of thumb suggests that the supernova is brighter. And indeed, it is ... by nine orders of magnitude.

...Sounds like I should buy one of these IoT alarms so that I know to stay away from the window :-)

2 comments

You turn your back to it with your eyes closed, and wonder if you'll have enough time to experience seeing from inside before your head vaporizes.

Spoiler: you won't.

One of my favorite quotes that makes you realize just how insane space can get.