2921: Eclipse Path Maps - Revision history

Xurkitree10: /* Transcript */

2024-10-12T20:48:04Z

‎Transcript

Zowayix: /* Possible references to actual eclipses */ add better (more detailed) forecast example. Uploading here since I don't trust imgur to not delete it eventually

2024-06-15T20:01:15Z

‎Possible references to actual eclipses: add better (more detailed) forecast example. Uploading here since I don't trust imgur to not delete it eventually

B for brain: /* Explanation */

2024-05-05T09:31:17Z

‎Explanation

Apollo11 at 15:24, 29 April 2024

2024-04-29T15:24:00Z

Nutster: /* Explanation */ Speeling fix.

2024-04-25T11:52:01Z

‎Explanation: Speeling fix.

172.69.22.56: /* Explanation */

2024-04-24T08:46:39Z

‎Explanation

172.70.91.165: /* Explanation */

2024-04-23T21:56:07Z

‎Explanation

Zowayix: /* Possible references to actual eclipses */

2024-04-23T21:48:41Z

‎Possible references to actual eclipses

Zowayix: /* Explanation */ Adding real eclipses from the Talk page

2024-04-23T21:44:15Z

‎Explanation: Adding real eclipses from the Talk page

Asdf: /* Transcript */ ce

2024-04-22T06:16:09Z

‎Transcript: ce

@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 ==Transcript==
 :'''Every eclipse path map'''
 :[A grey band representing the totality path of an eclipse travels along the map across several labels. Labels along the path from top to bottom:]

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 ===Possible references to actual eclipses===
-* Despite the {{w|solar eclipse of April 8, 2024}} passing through many populated areas of the United States, many weather forecasts a few days before were pessimistic, predicting significant clouds, and even thunderstorms, along a large majority of the eclipse path. An example of one such archived forecast map is [https://web.archive.org/web/20240423203358/https://cms.accuweather.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-05-at-12.42.58-PM.png here]. Only the very northeast bit of the path had consistently good forecasts, leading to news [https://www.boston.com/news/environment/2024/04/09/many-eclipse-visitors-to-northern-new-england-pulled-an-all-nighter-trying-to-leave/ reports] of an all-nighter of traffic jams, which the comic may be alluding to.
+* Despite the {{w|solar eclipse of April 8, 2024}} passing through many populated areas of the United States, many weather forecasts a few days before were pessimistic, predicting significant clouds, and even thunderstorms, along a large majority of the eclipse path. Examples of forecast maps are [https://web.archive.org/web/20240423203358/https://cms.accuweather.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-05-at-12.42.58-PM.png here] and [[:File:SolarEclipse8April2024WeatherForecastExample.png|here]]. Only the very northeast bit of the path had consistently good forecasts, leading to news [https://www.boston.com/news/environment/2024/04/09/many-eclipse-visitors-to-northern-new-england-pulled-an-all-nighter-trying-to-leave/ reports] of an all-nighter of traffic jams, which the comic may be alluding to.
 * The {{w|solar eclipse of August 12, 2026}} starts in Siberia, almost touches the North Pole, then touches Greenland, (barely) Iceland, and finally sets in Spain around 8:30pm local. In the relevant part of Siberia, the local time will be very close to midnight and the Sun will still be below the horizon for some. (The Sun will rise around midnight, just before/during/after totality depending on location, and then set after 10pm local.) In Spain, the length of totality will be significantly shortened due to the shallow angle at which the Sun (and therefore the Moon's shadow) hits the Earth. Notably, this is the next upcoming total solar eclipse as of this comic's publish date.
 * The {{w|solar eclipse of August 2, 2027}} touches the southern edge of Spain and Gibraltar, then proceeds to go through numerous areas known for their political instability.

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:31, 5 May 2024
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	~~{{incomplete\|Created by a TORNADO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}~~
	A total {{w\|solar eclipse}} occurred {{w\|Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024\|on April 8, 2024}} in North America, nine days before this comic. This comic comments on the fact that most solar eclipses happen on territories not easily reachable by humans, places with weather conditions that make viewing the eclipse less appealing, like cloudy skies (mentioned previously in [[2915: Eclipse Clouds]] and [[2917: Types of Eclipse Photo]]), fog, or tornadoes (also a [[:Category:Tornadoes\|recurring subject]] on xkcd), or areas that experience only a short period of totality.		A total {{w\|solar eclipse}} occurred {{w\|Solar eclipse of April 8, 2024\|on April 8, 2024}} in North America, nine days before this comic. This comic comments on the fact that most solar eclipses happen on territories not easily reachable by humans, places with weather conditions that make viewing the eclipse less appealing, like cloudy skies (mentioned previously in [[2915: Eclipse Clouds]] and [[2917: Types of Eclipse Photo]]), fog, or tornadoes (also a [[:Category:Tornadoes\|recurring subject]] on xkcd), or areas that experience only a short period of totality.

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 | Bay of shifting ice || Water<br/>(part frozen) || Open water might make this location accessible by boated observers. Solid ice ''might'' grant observers ready access by skidoo, ski and/or skid-plane. Shifting ice causes problems for all these modes of access.
 |-
-| Shipwreck cove || Water/Coast || The name describes the likely impediment to any boat access.
+| Shipwreck cove || Water/Coast || The name implies the likely impediment to any boat access.
 |-
 | Desert so harsh they train Mars astronauts there || Land<br/>(peninsula) || Implied inhospitable, and probably a lack of any normal transport/accommodation infrastructure.

@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 | Isle of perpetual fog || Island<br/>(inc. littoral zones?) || Meteorologically unfortunate (ground visibility; ''may'' not fully obscure the skyward view).
 |-
-| Nice, scenic, accessible area (6 square miles, 40,000,000 visitors expected) || Land || Apparently one plot of land is idea for the eclipse in all respects. Naturally, everyone else wants to be there too.<br/>For scale, forty million visitors is slightly more than the total population of California (alternately, somewhere between those of Canada and Poland). Six square miles is about one ''tenth'' the area of Washington DC (similarly around one tenth of Liechtenstein or, if you prefer, less than eight times Monaco).<br/>This would mean up to three people for every square metre, even before accounting for existing population and obstructions, as well as a high probability of {{what if|8|travel congestion}}.
+| Nice, scenic, accessible area (6 square miles, 40,000,000 visitors expected) || Land || Apparently one plot of land is ideal for eclipse viewing in all respects. Naturally, everyone else wants to be there too.<br/>For scale, forty million visitors is slightly more than the total population of California (alternately, somewhere between those of Canada and Poland). Six square miles is about one ''tenth'' the area of Washington DC (similarly around one tenth of Liechtenstein or, if you prefer, less than eight times Monaco).<br/>This would mean up to three people for every square metre, even before accounting for existing population and obstructions, as well as a high probability of {{what if|8|travel congestion}}.
 |-
 | Tornado capital of the world || Land || Meteorologically unfortunate (frequent disruptive wind vortices, and cloud cover likely).

@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 ===Possible references to actual eclipses===
 * Despite the {{w|solar eclipse of April 8, 2024}} passing through many populated areas of the United States, many weather forecasts a few days before were pessimistic, predicting significant clouds, and even thunderstorms, along a large majority of the eclipse path. An example of one such archived forecast map is [https://web.archive.org/web/20240423203358/https://cms.accuweather.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screenshot-2024-04-05-at-12.42.58-PM.png here]. Only the very northeast bit of the path had consistently good forecasts, leading to news [https://www.boston.com/news/environment/2024/04/09/many-eclipse-visitors-to-northern-new-england-pulled-an-all-nighter-trying-to-leave/ reports] of an all-nighter of traffic jams, which the comic may be alluding to.
-* The {{w|solar eclipse of August 12, 2026}} starts in Siberia, almost touches the North Pole, then touches Greenland, (barely) Iceland, and finally sets in Spain around 8:30pm local. In the relevant part of Siberia, the local time will be very close to midnight and the sun will still be below the horizon for some. (The sun will rise around midnight, just before/during/after totality depending on location, and then set after 10pm local.)
+* The {{w|solar eclipse of August 12, 2026}} starts in Siberia, almost touches the North Pole, then touches Greenland, (barely) Iceland, and finally sets in Spain around 8:30pm local. In the relevant part of Siberia, the local time will be very close to midnight and the sun will still be below the horizon for some. (The sun will rise around midnight, just before/during/after totality depending on location, and then set after 10pm local.) In Spain, the length of totality will be significantly shortened due to the shallow angle at which the Sun (and therefore the Moon's shadow) hits the Earth. Notably, this is the next upcoming total solar eclipse as of this comic's publish date.
 * The {{w|solar eclipse of August 2, 2027}} touches the southern edge of Spain and Gibraltar, then proceeds to go through numerous areas known for their political instability.
 * The {{w|solar eclipse of November 14, 2031}} takes place entirely over the Pacific Ocean.

@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 The title text mentions the {{w|Solar eclipse of February 28, 2063|solar eclipse of February 2063}}, and claims it will only be visible from the Arctic, though in fact this annular eclipse will traverse through the Indian Ocean. The eclipse in the comic would supposedly happen when the {{w|Sun}} would be below the horizon, which is a contradiction in terms, since an eclipse is only an eclipse from the standpoint of the viewer — it is equivalent to saying that the eclipse is not visible from that location, but is visible from a location over the horizon, at a point that is at the other end of a direct straight line {{w|Chord (geometry)|through the Earth}} that is directed 'down' towards the unrisen Sun and Moon. It then jokingly suggests that a giant chasm could open up between the location being considered and the location from where it would be visible, allowing people to view it. If this did happen, the chasm itself would likely eclipse the eclipse as a spectacle. In most cases, it would also likely cause severely detrimental effects (for example, magma eruptions, tsunamis, etc.), and would therefore not be considered 'lucky' by most people, despite the small and short-term benefit of being able to view an eclipse from a previously unsuitable location.
-'''Note'''
+Note: The {{w|Novaya Zemlya effect}} can make it possible to observe a solar eclipse when the Sun is below the horizon at the poles during certain weather conditions. Also called a "polar mirage", the effect is when an atmospheric inversion ducts sunlight along the surface of the Earth for distances up to 250 miles (400 km), which would make the Sun appear 5° higher in the sky than it actually is. This appears to be the rare situation where [[Randall]] was unaware of an obscure scientific phenomenon that would contribute to a joke.
-The {{w|Novaya Zemlya effect}} can make it possible to observe a solar eclipse when the Sun is below the horizon at the poles during certain weather conditions. Also called a "polar mirage", the effect is when an atmospheric inversion ducts sunlight along the surface of the Earth for distances up to 250 miles (400 km), which would make the Sun appear 5° higher in the sky than it actually is. This appears to be the rare situation where [[Randall]] was unaware of an obscure scientific phenomenon that would contribute to a joke.
+===Possible references to actual eclipses===
 ==Transcript==

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 :[On water] Shipwreck cove
 :[On land] Desert so harsh they train Mars astronauts there
-:[On water] Sea of rocky crags and maelstorms
+:[On water] Sea of rocky crags and maelstroms
 :[On a big island; label in square brackets] State department travel advisory
 :[On a small island] Isle of perpetual fog