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|valign="top" xalign="right" width="100%"|[[File:Crystal Clear app ktip.png|50px|link=https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Proposals]][[File:Crystal Clear app package settings blue.png|50px|link=https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Technical]][[File:Crystal Clear teamwork.png|50px|link=https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Coordination]][[File:Mop.svg|50px|link=https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Admin_requests]][[File:Internet-group-chat.svg|50px|link=https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/explain_xkcd:Community_portal/Miscellaneous]]
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Recent comments: {{Special:RecentChanges|namespace=1}}

Latest revision as of 09:33, 16 March 2026

Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki!
We have an explanation for all 3234 xkcd comics, and only 73 (2.3%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!

 Go to this explanation

Latest comic[edit]

Satellite Pollution
We're working to make sure the images are as up-to-date and accurate as possible, with a minimum number of sponsored galaxies.
Title text: We're working to make sure the images are as up-to-date and accurate as possible, with a minimum number of sponsored galaxies.

Explanation[edit]

Ambox warning blue construction.png This is incomplete:
This page was created recently. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

A common concern with new satellite constellations like Starlink is that the fact that they rely on large numbers, they make ground-based astronomy more difficult by adding more noise and possibly obscuring targets.

A more recent concern is the "collapse" of Google Image Search, where trying to find a real picture of a historical event or scientific phenomenon, will now produce an unwieldly amount of results produced by generative AI.

This comic satirizes the two by talking about a hypothetical satellite company that launches *deliberately* inaccurate starmaps to be overlaid across the night sky.

Transcript[edit]

Ambox warning green construction.png This is one of 41 incomplete transcripts:
Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

[White Hat and Ponytail are standing on the left, Cueball is on the right, in front of a poster on the wall. The poster has a portion of the Earth at the bottom, with outer space above it. The space scene has lots of stars, along with a few nebulae and galaxies. Part of the space scene is enclosed in a quadrilateral (a slightly skewed rectangle).]

Ponytail: Aren't you worried these will be disruptive for ground-based astronomy?
Cueball: No, why?

[Caption below comic:]

My new company is being criticized for our satellites that deploy 100-mile-wide banners painted with inaccurate pictures of the night sky.

comment.png  Add comment      new topic.png  Create topic (use sparingly)     refresh discuss.png  Refresh 

Discussion

Make changes, try things out, or just have fun with the wiki here! Just leave everything above the line alone, please.


This is a test. PoolloverNathan[stalk the blue seas] 20:48, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

This is not. —While False (museum | talk | contributions | logs | rights | printable version | page information | what links there | related changes | Google search | current time: 23:51) 18:38, 17 November 2022 (UTC)
A foreign student asked me to help fight against his math teacher. That was unusual. He was in that class for just a couple of weeks. The teacher's phone number was sent to me. The student asked me to spam-call the teacher. 172.71.155.55 22:58, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

here i'm just messing around in html, ignore this

furhhfghure guyrburgryhuyvfr "rvhru"

interesting way of writing quotations xd

hmmm this one of putting "<p>" in a line break will come in handy for when i want it to start at the same place than the first line

Please beware that <p> on mediawiki also disables automatic paragraph breaks, so you need a closing </p> or you'll break automatic paragraph formatting for the rest of the page. Zmatt (talk) 22:06, 31 July 2024 (UTC)

edit: da hek did that "</div>" come from An user who has no account yet (talk) 14:14, 13 October 2023 (UTC)

hi uh its hard to get here. is this a reference to undocumented feature??? hmm... this is interesting.
108.162.241.216 02:05, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

45px Soup


45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup
45px Soup


yum yum [citation needed]

Hiuiedeixgeyceiyedhcdiedcve {{trout}}

This is the leaderboard:

Last 7 days (Top 50)

<a href=" [AT THE JULY 28TH MEETING][tab] "Cancel the meeting! Our cover is blown."> More testing: hello ​ does​this​work (yes​it​does) This isn't a good name (talk) 22:44, 28 January 2026 (UTC)

‮hi 164.58.172.158 14:21, 23 February 2026 (UTC)

What is this?????????????????????? King Pando (talk) 04:25, 10 March 2026 (UTC)‭
      comment.png  Add comment

      new topic.png  View comic discussion

New here?[edit]

Last 30 days (Top 10)

Lots of people contribute to make this wiki a success. Many of the recent contributors above have just joined. You can do it too! Create your account here.

You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at explain xkcd. Feel free to create an account and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for xkcd comics, characters, What If? articles, and everything in between. If it is referenced in an xkcd comic, it should be here.

  • The incomplete explanations are listed here. Feel free to help out by expanding them!

Rules[edit]

Be a jerk!

There are a lot of comics that have set-in-stone explanations; only put one interpretation in the wiki page for each comic.

If you want to talk about a specific comic, don’t.

Please only submit material directly unrelated to xkcd and, of course, only submit material that cannot legally be posted or freely edited. On-topic or other appropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked. Get good.

If you need assistance from an admin, post a message to the Admin requests board.

Recent comments:

27 March 2026

N    21:49 

Talk:3225: Satellite Pollution‎‎ (4 changes | history) . . (+379). . [Barmar‎; TheusafBOT‎; RDiMartino‎ (2×)]

     

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Talk:3218: Subduction Retrieval‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (+195). . [82.132.237.207‎; 2600:1700:5faa:a230:3b9f:ff24:ea05:27b5‎]

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+77). . 82.132.237.207 (talk) (A valid comment, I'm sure, just imperfectly implemented.)

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+118). . 2600:1700:5faa:a230:3b9f:ff24:ea05:27b5 (talk) (mood)

     06:39  Talk:2891: Log Cabin‎ (diff | hist) . . (+290). . 47.141.37.161 (talk)

26 March 2026

     22:30  Talk:1562: I in Team‎ (diff | hist) . . (+300). . DiamondNether90 (talk | contribs)

N    19:55 

Talk:3224: Centimeter Wavelengths‎‎ (9 changes | history) . . (+1,820). . [King Pando‎; Broseph‎; TheusafBOT‎; 98.19.37.29‎; 82.13.184.33‎; 2607:fb92:2586:c357:853f:d959:663b:317c‎; 216.25.182.141‎; 82.132.237.127‎ (2×)]

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+113). . TheusafBOT (talk | contribs) (Created by theusafBOT: talk page for 3224)

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Talk:2244: Thumbtacks And String‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (+337). . [82.132.237.127‎; 147.161.250.108‎]

     

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25 March 2026

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Talk:3223: Inflation Timeline‎‎ (4 changes | history) . . (+1,559). . [WikipedianPolitician‎; Lettherebedarklight‎; 81.179.199.253‎ (2×)]

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+30). . Lettherebedarklight (talk | contribs) (fix unsigned)

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(cur | prev) . . (+678). . WikipedianPolitician (talk | contribs) (comment, interesting context)

     

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Talk:1203: Time Machines‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (+1,350). . [82.132.238.50‎; 2600:1700:3cf4:1180:6c57:a298:a080:a187‎]

     

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     05:01  Talk:483: Fiction Rule of Thumb‎ (diff | hist) . . (-3). . 2001:4c4e:1c0b:2500:530a:c00a:69f7:ca1e (talk)

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Talk:287: NP-Complete‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (+257). . [WikipedianPolitician‎; 81.179.199.253‎]

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24 March 2026

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Talk:287: NP-Complete‎‎ (3 changes | history) . . (+279). . [WikipedianPolitician‎ (3×)]

 m   

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(cur | prev) . . (+2). . WikipedianPolitician (talk | contribs) (Should this be in the Multiple Cueballs category?: sorry I forgot about edit summaries/this has just been me fixing the heading format)

 m   

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(cur | prev) . . (+2). . WikipedianPolitician (talk | contribs) (Should this be in the Multiple Cueballs category?)

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+275). . WikipedianPolitician (talk | contribs) (Should this be in the Multiple Cueballs category?: new section)

     22:03 

Talk:3223: Inflation Timeline‎‎ (12 changes | history) . . (+2,296). . [User 8496351‎; Jp5424‎; 42.book.addict‎; 82.132.237.186‎; 82.13.184.33‎; 80.187.75.215‎; 2a12:f43:143e:0:c172:a03d:12fe:51aa‎; 2a00:23cc:d248:8901:d030:98e4:e22b:d2ef‎; 204.77.3.72‎; 2001:1c02:1a9d:9700:2416:3c14:b648:3fd0‎; Lettherebedarklight‎ (2×)]

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+200). . Jp5424 (talk | contribs) (Weird X axis)

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+41). . Lettherebedarklight (talk | contribs) (unsigned)

     

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     20:25  Talk:3201: Proof Without Content‎ (diff | hist) . . (+146). . 184.94.17.26 (talk)
     20:04  Talk:3221: Landscape Features‎ (diff | hist) . . (+337). . 2600:1006:b137:6466:48c3:2bc9:bcbb:7cd4 (talk) (Maybe "landscape" as a political term?)
     15:50  Talk:2192: Review‎ (diff | hist) . . (+560). . 204.77.3.72 (talk)
     13:52  Talk:1957: 2018 CVE List‎ (diff | hist) . . (+435). . GreatWyrmGold (talk | contribs)

23 March 2026

     21:03  Talk:3220: Rotational Gravity‎ (diff | hist) . . (+498). . 136.47.216.1 (talk)

     19:47 

Talk:3223: Inflation Timeline‎‎ (2 changes | history) . . (+391). . [Dextrous Fred‎ (2×)]

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+99). . Dextrous Fred (talk | contribs) (Minor comment)

     

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(cur | prev) . . (+292). . Dextrous Fred (talk | contribs) (Minor comment)