2849: Under the Stars - Revision history

172.70.55.77: Described the actions Megan and Cueball were doing in the transcript and the background, the transcript is complete.

2025-04-03T19:12:12Z

Described the actions Megan and Cueball were doing in the transcript and the background, the transcript is complete.

42.book.addict: Undo revision 364526 by 172.69.17.144 (talk) i don’t think you understand that it’s a red link

2025-02-05T04:16:01Z

Undo revision 364526 by 172.69.17.144 (talk) i don’t think you understand that it’s a red link

172.69.17.144: Undo revision 349488 by 42.book.addict (talk) full color is different than some color

2025-02-05T03:00:45Z

Undo revision 349488 by 42.book.addict (talk) full color is different than some color

DKMell: simplified and clarified

2024-11-04T18:00:03Z

simplified and clarified

42.book.addict: There’s alr comics w/ color

2024-08-27T16:55:20Z

There’s alr comics w/ color

Gtbot2007 at 14:41, 27 August 2024

2024-08-27T14:41:24Z

172.69.79.188: /* Explanation */ Clarify (and remove unnecesary linefeed)

2023-11-26T23:49:05Z

‎Explanation: Clarify (and remove unnecesary linefeed)

162.158.186.71 at 05:17, 26 November 2023

2023-11-26T05:17:16Z

SomeoneIGuess: Safe to assume completed

2023-11-22T18:24:24Z

Safe to assume completed

162.158.186.25: /* Explanation */ Indenting the Pascal quote

2023-11-17T23:03:13Z

‎Explanation: Indenting the Pascal quote

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 ==Transcript==
-{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
-:[Megan and Cueball are sitting in a field under a clear blue sky and bright Sun.]
+:[Megan and Cueball are sitting in a field of green grass while looking at the clear blue sky, the grass beneath them slightly moving throughout the comic.]
 :Megan: I love sitting out under the stars.
 :Cueball: ...It's daytime.
 :Megan: Yeah, but the stars are all still up there.
 :Megan: Constellations wheel overhead; they're just painted over with blue.
 :Megan: Every sky is full of stars.
 :Cueball: That's somehow terrifying.

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 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 [[Category:Comics with color]]
 [[Category:Space]]
 [[Category:Time]]

@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 [[Category:Comics with color]]
 [[Category:Space]]
 [[Category:Time]]

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 ==Explanation==
-The phrase "under the stars" generally refers to being under a visible field of stars (either real stars visible at night, or representations of stars constructed by people, as in a dance hall). Megan points out that we're always under the stars, they're just obscured ("painted over") during the day by the brightness of the Sun and its interaction with the sky. Of course, this makes the 'under the stars' part of the remark redundant in the first place, because by this definition, sitting outside is always under the stars. Also, since the Sun is itself a star, regardless of whether the other stars exist when it's daytime or not, you would always be under at least ''a'' star. In fact, sitting inside is arguably under the stars as well, since the stars are still there, but just obscured by a roof or other construction. Poetically, though, it could be taken to mean that Megan simply loves to sit and ponder the very existence, vastness, etc. of the stars, even when she can't see them.
+The phrase "under the stars" generally refers to being under a visible field of stars — either real stars visible at night, or representations of stars constructed by people, as in a dance hall. Megan points out that we're always under the stars, they're just obscured ("painted over") during the day by the brightness of the Sun and its interaction with the sky. Of course, this makes the 'under the stars' part of the remark redundant in the first place, because by this definition, sitting outside is always under the stars. Also, since the Sun is itself a star, regardless of whether or not the other stars are visible when it's daytime, you would always be under at least ''one'' visible star. In fact, sitting inside is arguably under the stars as well, since the stars are still there, just obscured by a roof or other construction. Poetically, though, it could be taken to mean that Megan simply loves to sit and ponder the very existence, vastness, numerousness, etc. of the stars, even when she can't see them.
 [[File:parallel V404 Cygni.png|300px|thumb|If you live on the blue line, the black hole in V404 Cygni is directly over you once a day. Zoomable version [https://rpubs.com/perelopez/Parallel_33_52_02_N here].]]
 This is related to the concept of {{w|object permanence}}, which is the understanding that objects continue to exist even though we can't physically sense them. When you close your eyes, the universe doesn't go away even though you can't see it; similarly, when the Sun is shining, the stars are still all there.
-In the early days of xkcd, it was common for Randall to publish a comic that was not intentionally funny -- often also featuring Cueball and Megan -- so this is a bit of a return to form.
+In the early days of xkcd, it was common for Randall to publish a comic that was not intentionally funny — often also featuring Cueball and Megan — so this is a bit of a return to form.
-The title text mentions {{w|V404 Cygni}}, a binary system composed of a 9 solar masses black hole and a star smaller than the Sun. With a {{w|declination}} of +33° 52′ 02.0″, once every 23 hours and 56 minutes (366.24 times per year, compared to 365.24 solar days within the same timeframe), it 'passes over' any point of the rotating Earth with that latitude North, like Los Angeles, Atlanta or Beirut.
+The title text mentions {{w|V404 Cygni}}, a binary system composed of a 9-solar-mass black hole and a star smaller than the Sun. With a {{w|declination}} of +33° 52′ 02.0″, once every 23 hours and 56 minutes (366.24 times per year, compared to 365.24 solar days within the same timeframe), it 'passes over' any point of the rotating Earth with that latitude north, like Los Angeles, Atlanta or Beirut.
-The night sky being "terrifying" is probably related to a quote from Blaise Pascal:
+The night sky being "terrifying" is probably related to a quote from {{w|Blaise Pascal}}:
 : “I see the terrifying spaces of the universe that enclose me, and I find myself attached to a corner of this vast expanse, without knowing why I am more in this place than in another, nor why this little time that is given me to live is assigned me at this point more than another out of all the eternity that has preceded me and out of all that will follow me.” [https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/339964-i-see-the-terrifying-spaces-of-the-universe-that-enclose]
-This may also be a subtle reference to the novel {{w|Nightfall (Asimov novelette and novel)|Nightfall}} by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg which takes place on a planet that has so many suns they never have darkness and can never see the stars.  In that novel there is an eclipse which occurs roughly every 2050 years, which causes a complete psychological breakdown of everyone on the planet, as they all fear the dark and have no concept of the vastness of space.  In this comic the reference to every sky being full of stars being "terrifying" is very reminiscent of that novel (which was probably referring to Pascal's quote).
+This may also be a subtle reference to the short story {{w|Nightfall (Asimov novelette and novel)|Nightfall}} by {{w|Isaac Asimov}} and the related novel (also with {{w|Robert Silverberg}}). This story takes place on a planet that has so many suns that they never have darkness and can never see the stars.  In that story an eclipse occurs every 2049 years which causes a complete psychological breakdown of everyone on the planet, as they all fear the dark and have no concept of the vastness of space nor of the existence of other stars. In this comic, the reference to a sky full of stars being "terrifying" is reminiscent of that short story and novel.
 ==Transcript==

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 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
 [[Category:Comics with color]]
 [[Category:Space]]
 [[Category:Time]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:24, 22 November 2023
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	~~{{incomplete\|Created by a CONSTELLATION COVERED IN A FEW QUINTILLION GALLONS OF BLUE PAINT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}~~
	The phrase "under the stars" generally refers to being under a visible field of stars (either real stars visible at night, or representations of stars constructed by people, as in a dance hall). Megan points out that we're always under the stars, they're just obscured ("painted over") during the day by the brightness of the Sun and its interaction with the sky. Of course, this makes the 'under the stars' part of the remark redundant in the first place, because by this definition, sitting outside is always under the stars. Also, since the Sun is itself a star, regardless of whether the other stars exist when it's daytime or not, you would always be under at least ''a'' star. In fact, sitting inside is arguably under the stars as well, since the stars are still there, but just obscured by a roof or other construction. Poetically, though, it could be taken to mean that Megan simply loves to sit and ponder the very existence, vastness, etc. of the stars, even when she can't see them.		The phrase "under the stars" generally refers to being under a visible field of stars (either real stars visible at night, or representations of stars constructed by people, as in a dance hall). Megan points out that we're always under the stars, they're just obscured ("painted over") during the day by the brightness of the Sun and its interaction with the sky. Of course, this makes the 'under the stars' part of the remark redundant in the first place, because by this definition, sitting outside is always under the stars. Also, since the Sun is itself a star, regardless of whether the other stars exist when it's daytime or not, you would always be under at least ''a'' star. In fact, sitting inside is arguably under the stars as well, since the stars are still there, but just obscured by a roof or other construction. Poetically, though, it could be taken to mean that Megan simply loves to sit and ponder the very existence, vastness, etc. of the stars, even when she can't see them.