A new Universe Sandbox update just dropped, and Eon dives straight into one of the coolest things you can do to a planet: make it spin.
You can grab the Earth
In Universe Sandbox you can select Earth and actually change it — even stretch it and spin it. When Eon spins it up, it whirls fast — so fast he has to slow it back down.
Where the spin lives: Tools
Eon shares the trick he learned: go to Tools → spin rate, and there you can dial the rotation up or down and even pick a direction. That's a real control over something that, in real life, you could never touch.
Why this is actually astronomy
Here's the big idea hiding in the fun:
Earth spinning on its axis is exactly what gives us day and night. One full spin = one day.
So when Eon changes the spin rate, he's really changing how long a day lasts. Spin Earth faster and days get shorter; slow it down and days stretch out. A real day on Earth is one spin every 24 hours. (A day on Jupiter? Only about 10 hours — it spins much faster!)
Try it
Stand up and slowly spin in place. The moment your face points at a lamp, it's "day"; when it points away, it's "night." You just modeled what Earth does once every 24 hours.