3301: Stargazing 5

Stargazing 5

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Title text: The sun and the moon appear the same size in the sky, even though in real life the sun is more than twice as big. Some call this lucky alignment coincidence; others say it's proof that sometimes things can be the same size.

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Explanation

This is the fifth comic in the Stargazing series, following 3072: Stargazing 4, which came out one year and five months before. The header text, shown above the comic on the original page, lists the previous four comics in the series for this comic only.

The comic continues the series with Megan as the host of a stargazing tour, giving a mix of accurate astronomical information and information that is either nonsensical or trivial.

In the first panel, the host explains that her efforts to share "cool space facts" (as she also referred to her often inaccurate information in 3072: Stargazing 4) have been covered up by other astronomers. In this case, it turns out she was trapped under a tarp, literally being “covered up”. She escaped the tarp by chewing through it. It is unclear if or why this was the most practical method of escape. The impracticality of her method of escape—which falls short of impossible but is also far from ideal—is an apt parallel to the truth value of her cool facts and other statements.

In the second panel, she suggests that the viewers "spy on some stars". While this choice of words is uncommon in astronomy circles, it is partly due to her belief that stars are birds of the sky. This is inaccurate in many ways: stars are larger than birds, they are further away, and they are not animate. More pertinently, though, birds already occupy the sky, so they are already 'the birds of the sky'. She also suggests taking binoculars from bird-watchers if one doesn't have a set, which may anger the bird-watcher, as well as being a criminal offence. Bird-watching is more common during the day than during the night, which may make it more difficult to find a bird-watcher at this hour. Also, bird-watchers often use binoculars that magnify the image, but make it darker (saving the weight and cost of big lenses), which would not be optimal for looking at faint stars.

She then talks about rippling colours in the sky, referring to aurorae, comparing them to screensavers. Screensavers are usually simple computer-generated animations (such as changing colours or slowly moving images) that play when a computer is inactive and are considered nice to look at. They were originally to prevent screen burn-in, which is not an issue that would affect the sky. Megan's comment about moving the mouse refers to moving the cursor to reawaken the computer. This would only be possible if the sky was a computer screen in a simulation. The idea of the sky as a screen has been referenced before in 395: Morning.

In the last panel, she refers to historical beliefs that the appearance of a comet was a sign that major events, often very bad, were about to happen. 'Harbinger' is a relatively uncommon word, meaning a thing that signals the coming of another. In contrast to the negative historical connotations of the comet, she styles herself as someone who signals the coming of good things, in the shape of astronomy and "cool facts". "Cool facts are nigh" is a reference to the archaic phrase "The end is nigh", commonly mentioned by people predicting major disasters.

In the title text, the Sun and Moon are compared. The Sun is actually about 400 times larger than the Moon (in diameter; about 64 000 000 times in volume), which means that the statement that it is over twice as large is true, but massively understates the comparison. The Sun and Moon appear to be a very similar size, however, due to the Sun being about 400 times farther away — a fact that allows us to experience near perfect solar eclipses. Some religious apologists argue that this coincidence is evidence for the existence of God. The title text appears to be setting up a reference to this, only to make another understatement, that some people argue that it proves things can be the same size, which, unlike the existence of God, is a trivially true statement that is effectively at the weaker end of any attempt to invoke any such anthropic principle regarding this particular coincidence.

Transcript

[Megan is standing in the foreground with her arms raised. Behind her on the left are Cueball and Ponytail, on the right are White Hat and Hairbun. They appear to be looking at her. The background is black.]

Megan: Welcome to Stargazing!

Megan: I'm back, despite efforts by astronomers who hate cool space facts to cover me up so I can't see the sky anymore!

Megan: Nice try, losers! Next time buy a tarp that's harder to chew through!

[The view closes on Megan, so only Ponytail and White Hat are visible behind her. She's now holding a pair of binoculars.]

Megan: Now, let's spy on some stars!

Megan: Does everyone have binoculars? If you don't, find someone looking at birds and try to grab theirs.

Megan: Stars are the birds of the sky.

[Close-up of Megan's head. The background is white now.]

Megan: But stars aren't the only weird lights.

Megan: Sometimes the sky fills with rippling colors. That's the sky's screensaver.

Megan: It's very pretty, so don't move your mouse and ruin it.

[The view pulls back so everyone is visible again. Megan is no longer holding the binoculars. She has her left hand raised, pointing to the sky, while those in the background are looking in the direction she is pointing. The background is black again.]

Megan: That blob is a comet. People used to think they were harbingers of doom. We now know they're boring, so we have to find new reasons to use the word "harbinger."

Megan: I'm a harbinger of astronomy!

Megan: Cool facts are nigh!

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Discussion

next time they should poke holes in the tarp to better confuse Megan. Also this is my first comment ever! Death cab for me (talk) 06:53, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Hello! This is my first time editing! (I'm not very good at writing) Filpfolpt (talk) 04:43, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Quick, keep scamming the astronomers by selling them cheap tarps! We need to get more of these strips in! 7amiþ moi · 💬 · 📊 06:23, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

But the holes would look like stars in the darkness of the tarp, thus stopping them from seeking the real ones. or we could just put those glow in the dark stars inside them. Death cab for me (talk) 06:53, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

If the sky didn't have the screensaver and you left it on long enough it would start to look like https://xkcd.com/395/. Or I geuss that screen burn-in is different from dead pixels but whatever Death cab for me (talk) 06:53, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Either that or 1229. GreyFox (talk) 21:25, 8 October 2026 (UTC)

Hmmm… I wonder if the tarp thing is meant to be actually by astronomers, or if Megan actually just had a tarp fall in her and she decided to chew through it. Informationaly (talk) 11:13, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

Ugly titletext font

I dislike the titletext font. It's difficult to read especially long ones like on this comic. The original xkcd website uses something that is much nicer. 130.76.25.47 12:10, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

What if we formatted it like this:

The sun and the moon appear the same size in the sky, even though in real life the sun is more than twice as big. Some call this lucky alignment coincidence; others say it's proof that sometimes things can be the same size.

This is much faster and easier to read. Death cab for me (talk) 15:51, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

It's somewhat ironic that when I read Something Like This, I'm so very used to it being something said by a certain character with a very similar name to yours. 81.179.193.245 20:58, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

But it's so much better! it simplifies words to their earliest unique letter and the less confusing a word the more letters you add, so if you see an it can quickly mean and but anthropi is needed to differentiate anthropic from the equally uncommon word anthropomorphic Death cab for me (talk) 15:42, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

what is the strange new title text font anyway. it wasn't like that on explain xkcd before 73.132.167.116 21:23, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

does anyone know why? I'm really confused, since I hate the new font, and it WASNT like this before. Ｉ am certain of it 73.132.167.116 00:27, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

I don't know why, but I'm pretty sure it's the same neither-bolt-nor-italic cousin of the font used in the everpresent "xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGS at a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your device from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing." 2601:204:C287:7F50:0:0:0:92F4 01:38, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

It's actually not a cousin, it's the same exact font used throughout the site. Anyway I have reverted the change since people don't like it. FaviFake (talk) 07:02, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

I liked it :( Death cab for me (talk) 15:51, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

Dammit. Maybe I'll propose it at one of the community portals FaviFake (talk) 21:48, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for changing it back. Standard prose should generally not be written in small caps. --144.121.163.114 22:06, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

---

The person in the background right next to her is called "White Hat", although, technically, his hat is black. --2001:A62:518:1001:4019:732E:2FFC:EFF0 16:42, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

If it were Black Hat, then the entire hat would be grey. Xkdvd (talk) 17:07, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

I just read the article which the explanation alleges is an example of someone claiming that the apparent similarity in the size of the Sun and the Moon (even though the Sun is actually 400 times larger) is evidence for the existence of God. The article cited does not make that claim. 2600:1008:B06D:7DA4:CD46:F0F3:EC56:CA0 17:59, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

It's probably something to do with the "extraordinary coincidence" of the Sun being the same multiple further away as it the multiple of its size being proof for being a designed-in feature. Which suffers from the usual problems with ontological arguments, and especially the selective observer effects (if they weren't apparently the same size, we'd not be wondering why they aren't; if other things were instead then they'd be the 'proof' instead). Also that it's only 'exactly' the same size right now... wait a billion years and total solar eclipses will be impossible.

I do agree that it's a jarring inclusion in the comic Explanation. As a philosophical point, or even non-point, the theistic element is not really alluded to in the comic itself. It's pretty much the same as a "Wherever you go, there you are!" sort of joke. 81.179.193.245 21:07, 22 September 2026 (UTC)

The article cited is written from the perspective that God created the Sun, Moon, and Earth. It even indicates that God is responsible for both the distance difference and the visual size similarity illusion. But, it does not say that this is evidence for the existence of God. 207.179.201.91 23:53, 23 September 2026 (UTC)

The text above the comic lists the previous four comics in the series.

Eh? What text above the comic? 82.13.184.33 13:32, 24 September 2026 (UTC)

Changed it to be better phrased/more explanatory. Basically, the xkcd site Header Text for https://xkcd.com/3301/ (and only for the Stargazing 5 comic, not even the other Stargazings) gives links to those other prior Stargazings. (Hmmm,, has anyone added this exception the the Header text page yet? I'll have to check that later.) 81.179.193.245 20:01, 24 September 2026 (UTC)
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