[ge96]

I am so happy this movie did great, the book was great

Similar to me books: Bobiverse, Long Way To A Small Angry Planet

I'm not a heavy reader

This site is cool, I want to get to know stellar navigation stuff for astrophotography watching a video like this where they pull up star charts to point the telescope at it pretty cool https://www.youtube.com/live/TexqPMQMyZg?si=oEnvrxW21-D0VXGV...

Tangent I'll throw in here, I never get the fabric folding gravity well diagrams as it seems to have a "down" direction, I guess it looks like it's down since it's a slice but the effect is an inward sphere?

[imglorp]

> I guess it looks like it's down since it's a slice but the effect is an inward sphere?

Yes, gravity is a vector field: every point in space near a heavy body has a vector pointed at the center of the body with a magnitude of the field strength. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_field

Whenever someone uses fabric sheet analogy, they need to shout that the X-Y of the sheet is a 2 dimensional analog of X-Y-Z space, and the Z direction of the sheet is the field magnitude, with the slope indicating direction.

All models are wrong, but some are useful (for understanding).

[ge96]

Other thing is I believe they say gravity is strongest at the center of the sphere/core but I would think the mass is split evenly away from the core eg. maybe 2/3 radius from the center where it's equal mass on each side. But probably doesn't make sense wouldn't be a ball.

[recursivecaveat]

Since the strength is represented by the slope of the sheet (not the depth), it should still line up. Underneath the ball at the very center the sheet will be level, to match as you say, that the field strength is 0 there. The exact shape will probably be wrong though since it's mostly determined by the shape of the bottom of the object.

[colechristensen]

Inside a solid uniform sphere, gravity is exactly equal to the gravity of the sphere of material under your feet, as though any mass at any "altitude" higher than you did not exist. It's a pretty standard calculus problem. (the opposite is true, inside a solid hollow shell gravity is exactly zero everywhere)

[wrs]

The next thing they do after showing you the sheet is to roll a ball around the stretched part to demonstrate an orbit. Explaining how that analogy works starts to take more math than the actual field you’re trying to explain!

[stevenwoo]

Just a question - why do you classify Long Way with PHM - because there are aliens working with humans? I don’t see any other similarities. The technology IIRC (haven’t read in years) in the Becky Chambers book is closer to Star Trek than reality, and there’s not that much of an overarching plot - which is not to say a book cannot be good without one but it’s a big difference.

[ge96]

True less technical and space themed so maybe not fitting just a fun easy read

Oh yeah another series would be Nick Webb Constitution (Legacy Fleet), I think I got farther into that series but didn't finish it unlike Bobiverse, maybe I did finish this trilogy, I haven't read books in a while honestly. That was a good series though I remember the depiction of the space battles.

Trying to be better at being in the moment vs. watching youtube/scrolling a website at the same time kind of thing

[stevenwoo]

If you like sci fi in general you might ask on /r/printsf on Reddit for recommendations based on what you like. The Libby and Hoopla app also gives recommendations based on what I have already read. I, too, completed Bobiverse but gave up after one Chambers book, YMMV.

[Hikikomori]

In the vein of popcorn scifi, expeditionary force books are fun.

[ge96]

Added to my kindle list, funny I tried to read Gravity's Rainbow as I heard it in a song, I did not get far, on the topic of reading, it is related to rockets but yeah

[lstodd]

it's like an inverse gas bubble underwater, or a liquid blob in gas in microgravity, but without phase border.

see, it's not that easy to explain or visualise.

[ge96]

Yeah I watched this video recently about slingshotting I can see how it works but yeah https://youtu.be/-CqBP-CtM0c?si=BdCiZwWgpAp07mgs&t=15

It's not like there is a "down" it's just you're looking at it from a top view?

[lstodd]

There is no down, yes. There is no looking at it from a top view either, since there is no bottom. 3d models like this video are helpful, but one must keep in mind that they are but a slice.

[godzillabrennus]

I doubt my opinion will be well-received by all, but I hope that creators like the author of the Bobiverse will be able to, affordably and within their own capabilities, create new forms of content, such as AI-generated long-form content, like entire TV seasons, as the technology matures. That series is fantastic.

[jamilton]

According to the author, it's been optioned to Lord Miller Productions, the same group that adapted Project Hail Mary.