Talk:3055: Giants

2025-02-24T20:07:42Z

162.158.63.81:

Anyone know why "the Man in the Moon" has square brackets around it? Stylistic choice, or clever reference? [[Special:Contributions/172.71.254.43|172.71.254.43]] 19:38, 24 February 2025 (UTC)

:I suspect it's to make it clear that it's all one block of text, otherwise it might be read as separate objects on each line. [[User:IntangibleMatter|IntangibleMatter]] ([[User talk:IntangibleMatter|talk]]) 20:01, 24 February 2025 (UTC)
::I thought that too but then Jolly Green should be in brackets as well. I think it's because Man in the Moon doesn't have "giant" after it. The rest all assume "giant" after (gas giant, etc.).[[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.81|162.158.63.81]] 20:07, 24 February 2025 (UTC)Pat

2816: Types of Solar Eclipse

2023-08-17T07:01:29Z

162.158.63.81:

{{comic
| number = 2816
| date = August 16, 2023
| title = Types of Solar Eclipse
| image = types_of_solar_eclipse_2x.png
| imagesize = 501x572px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = The best place to be for a hug eclipse is a scenic natural area with good views and few clouds. The worst place to be is the lunar surface.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a DARK SHADOW OF A DRAGONITE THAT PERIODICALLY EATS THE SUN - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

There are various different types of {{w|solar eclipse}}. The comic purports to show and names a number of them, initially quite real and accurate before heading into traditional xkcd fantasticality.

The punchline is where he likens an eclipse to a 'hug' of the Moon by the Sun. This is of course, not practically possible.{{citation needed}} The Sun is 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers away from the Moon. Even if it was somehow moved towards touching distance by advanced sci-fi tech or a terrible disaster, the Moon would vaporize on contact with the Sun's plasma, thus not allowing for any sort of hug. In fact, we would not live very long if this happened, as the Earth would be baked by the Sun's light, then swallowed by its intense gravity.

In the title text, the hug eclipse is mentioned again, this time in regards to where the best location to be would be. First, normal advice is given about how the best way to view the eclipse would be in a scenic and natural area with few clouds. Then he mentions that the lunar surface would be the worst place to go in a solar hug - as it would be blasted with thousands of degrees of heat from the sun.

{| class="wikitable"
!Label
!Image
!Description
|-
|Partial
|Sun partly obscured by an offset occlusion
|Whenever the Moon does not totally line up with the Sun (for any or all observers), the 'shadow' will not cross the centre of the Sun. The parts of a full eclipse before second contact and and after third contact are also described as partial phases of the eclipsing event.
|-
|Total
|Sun entirely obscured by a slightly larger concentric occlusion
|When the Moon is close to perigee (or assisted by the Earth being at aphelion) during an eclipse, the Moon's apparent size is slightly larger than that of the Sun and will cover the whole solar disc. This is an astronomically useful effect, as well as aesthetically interesting to look at, as observers can study solar prominsnces and the atmosphere of the Sun while not being blinded by the glare of the bright 'surface' of the star.
|-
|Annular
|Sun partly obscured by a slightly smaller concentric occlusion
|With the Moon nearer its apogee (and/or the Earth at perihelion), the Sun instead has a larger angular size than the Moon and will not be totally covered even by the most central alignment of each body.
An eclipse can also be called "hybrid" (not illustrated in the diagram), by being seen as both Total and Annular by different observers. Those viewing at more extreme latitudes or more westerly/easterly (the eclipse being closer to dawn and dusk, local time) are viewing both Moon and Sun from slightly further away around the curve of the planet and so make the nearer Moon decreases in angular size proportionately greater than the much more distant Sun and so see annularity for the same eclipse for which others see totallity.
|-
|Oblate
|Oval Sun obscured by a concentric circle, except for at the edges of its major axis
|If the Sun were a grossly exagerated oblate (or prolate) spheroid, for any reason, the equatorial (or polar) bulge might extend significantly beyond the original limits of totality, or the narrower radii fall beneath the limits of the annular occlusion.
|-
|Interior
|Sun obscured at its edge by a thick ring, leaving its centre visible
|When an occluding object visibly larger than the Sun has a significant hole in the middle, only the rim of the Sun is blocked in the manner of an inverted annular eclipse.
|-
|Cuboid
|Sun obscured by a square cross-section
|In this example, the 'Moon' appears to be a cube, thus unable to "square the circle" of the solar disk. It must be perpendicularly orientated, as other twists of a true cubic (or cuboid) object might cause a rectangular or even hexagonal 'shadow'.
|-
|Transverse
|Obscuring circle drawn as a perpendicular plane intersecting the Sun on a centre-line
|This depicts the solar disc as two dimensional (and at an oblique angle) and the 'shadow' disc as a second 2d object somehow passing through the same space. This may be a spoof on the 'flat earth' explanation for the solar eclipse.
|-
|Saturnian
|Obscuring circle is given an oblique (shadow) ring system
|While it is theoretically possible that Saturn (and its rings) could eventually find itself in a position to cause a solar eclipse on Earth (and/or that Earth moves beyond Saturn, or that the Moon gains significant debris rings in its own right), this scenario isn't something we could see happening any time soon.
There are Saturnian moons that naturally travel behind their parent planet, but none that would ever see a near-Sun-sized Saturn doing so like this, and no human is yet in a position to directly see such an effect by any currently available means. However, probes sent to saturn have captured images[https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/13101/spectacular-eclipses-in-the-saturn-system/] of this type of eclipse
|-
|Hug
|Obscuring shape is pinched over at both sides by the respective overlapping edges of the Sun
|In this image it appears the Sun has extended its 'limbs' to affectionately hold the Moon, which might be problematic in several different ways{{citation needed}}.
|}

In all these images, the solar disc does not actually have a solid Moon in front of it, but a semi-transparent shadow, more typical of the representation of the Earth's solar shadow as it passes across the face of the Moon in a {{w|lunar eclipse}}. This may be an additional part of the humour, but it is likely an artistic choice made to improve the diagrams' legibility.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

[Nine diagrams of solar eclipses are shown. The first three are all real solar eclipses, the rest are all ficticious.]

Caption: Types of Solar Eclipse

[The sun is partially covered by a similarly sized moon:] Partial

[The sun is completely covered by a similarly sized moon:] Total

[The sun is partially covered by a slightly smaller moon, surrounding its shadow:] Annular

[A ovalar sun is mostly covered by a spherical moon, except at the extremes of its distortions:] Oblate

[Sun partially covered by a similarly sized moon, except for a hole in the moon's center:] Interior

[Sun partially covered by a square turnt on its point to resemble a diamond:] Cuboid

[2D Sun being intersected with a 2D moon at a perpendicular angle:] Transverse

[Sun being partially obscured by a body that has a ring system:] Saturnian

[Moon is pinched at the sides by the Sun behind it, as if being grabbed:] Hug

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

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Talk:3055: Giants

2816: Types of Solar Eclipse