Visualize a sphere 16 miles in diameter, made of the densest material in existence, of which a teaspoon has more mass than an aircraft carrier. Then visualize this huge, inconceivably massive sphere turning completely on its axis 30 times a second.
The tangential velocity of the surface of the sphere is a substantial fraction of the speed of light.
It boggles my mind.
God was having way too much fun when He made this. Srsly.
Well, maybe not “substantial” fraction. Still, pretty d@mn fast.
Visualize a sphere 16 miles in diameter, made of the densest material in existence, of which a teaspoon has more mass than an aircraft carrier. Then visualize this huge, inconceivably massive sphere turning completely on its axis 30 times a second.
The tangential velocity of the surface of the sphere is a substantial fraction of the speed of light.
Yes, and it generates a magnetic field that is billions of times more powerful than that of Earth.
According to its Wikipedia page, it radiates photons that each carry over 100 TeV of energy.
The gamma ray photons emitted by the decay of radium average about 0.74 MeV each; a 100 TeV photon carries a hundred million times more.