<p>tl;dr <strong>Miki Sudo</strong></p>

<p>Using JPL's <a href="https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/toolkit.html" rel="noreferrer">SPICE toolkit</a>, I computed the positions of Earth and Europa for the times in question. </p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/4zxYK.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/4zxYK.png" alt="Relative Positions of Earth and Europa on 1983-Nov-25"></a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/37dQu.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/37dQu.png" alt="Relative Positions of Earth and Europa on 1985-Jul-22"></a></p>

<p>On 1983-Nov-25, Earth and Europa are 935.2 million km apart, while 1985-Jul-22, they are 612.5 million km apart. Miki Sudo wins by 323 million km, given the assumed date for her birthday. If we don't trust famousbirthdays.com for Sudo's birthday, but assume it was still sometime in 1985, she still wins.
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/osp3Y.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/osp3Y.png" alt="Earth-Europa Distance in 1985"></a></p>

<p>In fact, it turns out Joey Chesnut was born at a time when Earth was close to its farthest point from Europa, so he's fairly unlikely to ever win in this tiebreaker:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vR2RJ.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vR2RJ.png" alt="Earth-Europa Distance, 1980-220"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-12T09:18:15.800Z
Like this approach to the problem.
StephenG - Help Ukraine
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-12T21:21:52.800Z
What an outstanding first answer!
Lightness Races in Orbit
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-12T05:51:35.183Z
2019-01-12T05:51:35.183Z
lwr
<p>Any online planetarium or equivalent mobile app will tell you that on 1983-11-25 Jupiter was near to its <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_(astronomy)#Superior_and_inferior" rel="noreferrer">conjunction</a> with the Sun:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/aUdnS.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/aUdnS.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>while on 1985-07-22 it was close to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_(planets)" rel="noreferrer">opposition</a>:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/CRZRe.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/CRZRe.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>So on Miki Sudo's birthday, Europa was about 300 million kilometers closer to the Earth than on Joey Chestnut's birthday.</p>

<p><sub>images taken from the Star Walk iOS app</sub></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-11T22:15:58.780Z
2019-01-12T10:39:24.683Z
2019-01-12T10:39:24.683Z
Glorfindel
<p><a href="https://xkcd.com/2003/" rel="noreferrer">xkcd #2003</a>:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/6BqQi.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/6BqQi.png" alt="Ties are broken by whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born."></a></p>

<p>gives a humorous line of succession to the United States presidency. The comic's title text, found by hovering over the comic, states that a tie is broken by whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born.</p>

<p>The only potential tie on the list occurs in item #19. It states the "champion" of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan%27s_Hot_Dog_Eating_Contest" rel="noreferrer">Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest</a>, but does not specify the men's or women's champion. At the time of the comic's publication, the men's champion was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Chestnut" rel="noreferrer">Joey Chestnut</a> (born 1983-11-25) and the women's champion was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miki_Sudo" rel="noreferrer">Miki Sudo</a> (Wikipedia gives only 1985 as her year of birth, but <a href="https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/miki-sudo.html" rel="noreferrer">famousbirthdays.com claims July 22</a>).</p>

<p>Both were ineligible to hold the presidency at the time of publication due to not meeting the minimum age requirement of 35. But supposing they both were, who would be first in line by the tiebreaker of distance from the surface of Europa at birth?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-12T09:17:42.840Z
I've got to admit that the 24 round jousting tournament sounds like the greatest idea ever.  Let's do this instead of those silly elections. :-)
StephenG - Help Ukraine
<distances><europa>
Was Earth closer to Europa on 1983-11-25 or 1985-07-22?
BeseechLoveVeil
# Was Earth closer to Europa on 1983-11-25 or 1985-07-22?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-01-11)

[xkcd #2003](https://xkcd.com/2003/):

[![Ties are broken by whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born.](https://i.sstatic.net/6BqQi.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/6BqQi.png)

gives a humorous line of succession to the United States presidency. The comic's title text, found by hovering over the comic, states that a tie is broken by whoever was closest to the surface of Europa when they were born.

The only potential tie on the list occurs in item #19. It states the "champion" of the [Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan%27s_Hot_Dog_Eating_Contest), but does not specify the men's or women's champion. At the time of the comic's publication, the men's champion was [Joey Chestnut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Chestnut) (born 1983-11-25) and the women's champion was [Miki Sudo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miki_Sudo) (Wikipedia gives only 1985 as her year of birth, but [famousbirthdays.com claims July 22](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/miki-sudo.html)).

Both were ineligible to hold the presidency at the time of publication due to not meeting the minimum age requirement of 35. But supposing they both were, who would be first in line by the tiebreaker of distance from the surface of Europa at birth?

**Tags:** distances, europa

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I've got to admit that the 24 round jousting tournament sounds like the greatest idea ever.  Let's do this instead of those silly elections. :-)  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-01-12. Score: 24

tl;dr **Miki Sudo**

Using JPL's [SPICE toolkit](https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/naif/toolkit.html), I computed the positions of Earth and Europa for the times in question.

[![Relative Positions of Earth and Europa on 1983-Nov-25](https://i.sstatic.net/4zxYK.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/4zxYK.png)

[![Relative Positions of Earth and Europa on 1985-Jul-22](https://i.sstatic.net/37dQu.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/37dQu.png)

On 1983-Nov-25, Earth and Europa are 935.2 million km apart, while 1985-Jul-22, they are 612.5 million km apart. Miki Sudo wins by 323 million km, given the assumed date for her birthday. If we don't trust famousbirthdays.com for Sudo's birthday, but assume it was still sometime in 1985, she still wins.
[![Earth-Europa Distance in 1985](https://i.sstatic.net/osp3Y.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/osp3Y.png)

In fact, it turns out Joey Chesnut was born at a time when Earth was close to its farthest point from Europa, so he's fairly unlikely to ever win in this tiebreaker:
[![Earth-Europa Distance, 1980-220](https://i.sstatic.net/vR2RJ.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/vR2RJ.png)

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Like this approach to the problem.  
> **username_3**: What an outstanding first answer!  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-01-11. Score: 13

Any online planetarium or equivalent mobile app will tell you that on 1983-11-25 Jupiter was near to its [conjunction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_(astronomy)#Superior_and_inferior) with the Sun:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/aUdnS.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/aUdnS.jpg)

while on 1985-07-22 it was close to [opposition](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_(planets)):

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/CRZRe.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/CRZRe.jpg)

So on Miki Sudo's birthday, Europa was about 300 million kilometers closer to the Earth than on Joey Chestnut's birthday.

images taken from the Star Walk iOS app


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