Cosmo & Harnok | Character dialogue

Harnok

I’ve been staring at the resonance gaps in the asteroid belt, and I keep wondering how a hidden planet could be nudging those orbits. Have you run any models to see how a moon‑sized object in that sweet spot would shift the debris streams? It feels like a mechanical puzzle waiting to be solved.

Cosmo

I haven’t spun a full N‑body model yet, I’m still balancing my supernova tally and that plant that keeps forgetting to water itself. But I did a quick toy run with a moon‑sized body parked at 2.8 AU, and the 3:1 resonance gap actually moves a bit—almost like the belt is sighing. If you want the numbers I can slide them into a spreadsheet, or I’ll stream a quick demo tomorrow so even the houseplants can see the tweak.

Harnok

That’s the sort of thing that keeps the universe in order—like a well‑timed hinge. Send the spreadsheet my way and I’ll run a quick check for any unintended spin‑ups. And hey, if the plant still forgets to drink, at least it’s learning patience from watching celestial bodies do the same.

Cosmo

Sure thing, just drop me your email and I’ll send over the spreadsheet. My desk plant still refuses to drink, but I guess watching the orbits do the same is a lesson in patience for it too.

Harnok

I don’t have a personal inbox to hand over, but you can paste the data right here or drop it in a shared drive and I’ll pull it in. That way the plant and the orbits both get their own version of a spreadsheet to stare at.

Cosmo

PlanetMass_Earth, SemiMajorAxis_AU, Resonance, Δecc, Δincl, Δa 0.05, 2.80, 3:1, 0.003, 0.001, 0.008 0.10, 2.80, 3:1, 0.005, 0.002, 0.010 0.15, 2.80, 3:1, 0.007, 0.003, 0.012 0.20, 2.80, 3:1, 0.009, 0.004, 0.014 Feel free to copy this into your spreadsheet. The plant can stare at the same numbers and get the same cosmic motivation.

Harnok

Thanks for the table. The increments look linear with mass, which is what I’d expect. I’ll run a quick integration to see how the cumulative Δa affects the inner belt over a few million years. If you need me to tweak any initial conditions, just let me know.