What would an observer, standing on the Earth, notice if the base of a Space Elevator was severed?
Assume the observer was on the ground, 4 km from the base (bottom) of the Space Elevator.
Assume a "standard" Earth Elevator "tethered" at <= 20 degrees of equator, made of diamond nanothread, with an elevator "top" in LEO and a final tether in geosynchronous orbit.
Please take into account oscillation and differing rotational momentum between Earth and the geosynch tether. How long would it take for the effects of the severing to be noticed, as well as what the observer on the ground would see?
I add this to "world-building" as I need specific numbers to play around with for both Earth and a different world for a piece I'm writing.
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