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The Parker Solar Probe will make its closest approach yet to the Sun

(arstechnica.com)
164 points pseudolus | 6 comments | 20 Dec 24 11:23 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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kfogel ◴[20 Dec 24 21:27 UTC] No.42475215[source]▶
Most of the comments so far are about the temperature and the closeness to the sun, and, hey, I get it: those are both amazing to think about. But to me even more amazing is... 0.16% of the speed of light?? Yikes.
replies(3): >>42475305 #>>42478472 #>>42480737 #
verzali ◴[20 Dec 24 21:37 UTC] No.42475305[source]▶
Pretty sure it's 0.064%, not sure why the article got it wrong, still impressive though
replies(2): >>42475809 #>>42481519 #
caseyohara ◴[20 Dec 24 22:39 UTC] No.42475809[source]▶
Still. ~200,000 m/s (= ~430,000 mph) is unfathomably fast.
replies(2): >>42477069 #>>42477229 #
1. Ankaios ◴[21 Dec 24 03:04 UTC] No.42477229[source]▶
~200,000 m/s is unfathomably fast.

It's about 110,000 fathoms per second.

replies(1): >>42477683 #
2. fy20 ◴[21 Dec 24 05:12 UTC] No.42477683[source]▶
Or if you prefer leagues, at that speed it would still take 9 minutes to reach the depth in Jules Verne's book.
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3. mwcremer ◴[21 Dec 24 06:33 UTC] No.42477899[source]▶
The title refers to the distance the _Nautilus_ traveled while submerged, not the depth it reached.
replies(2): >>42479011 #>>42479418 #
4. ◴[21 Dec 24 11:23 UTC] No.42479011{3}[source]▶
5. MereInterest ◴[21 Dec 24 13:00 UTC] No.42479418{3}[source]▶
Until I realized this, the title was quite confusing. If “20,000 leagues” were referring to depth, it would be enough to go all the way through the Earth, exit the other side, and then make it a quarter of the way to the moon.
replies(1): >>42479923 #
6. Loughla ◴[21 Dec 24 14:35 UTC] No.42479923{4}[source]▶
Yeah he really needed a comma.

20,000 Leagues, Under the Sea

I think it reads cleaner.