1887: Two Down, One to Go

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Two Down, One to Go

Title text: The third row will probably have to wait until 2034, and maybe longer. If I see a daytime supernova, I'll replace the meteor storm with that and consider it 3/3.

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Needs review and PLEASE: Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

In this comic, Randall lists three of the most spectacular astronomical sights: a total solar eclipse, an aurora (Aurora Borealis in the northern hemisphere and Aurora Australis in the south), and a meteor storm. In 2017, the first two of these phenomena happened within weeks of each other for observers in much of the US - a coincidence that Randall celebrates.

• Total solar eclipse: The total solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 was the first seen for decades in the contiguous United States. Randal already made several comics about this eclipse.
• Aurora: Bar Alaska and perhaps parts of Maine, the aurora borealis is rarely visible from the continental USA. Randall bemoaned the fact he'd never seen one back in 1302: Year in Review in 2013 - which also mentioned the 2017 eclipse. Randall likely finally saw it due to the giant solar flares in the week leading up to this comic.
• Meteor storm: A meteor storm is more than just a shower - while the best typical shower gives you a meteor or two per every minute, a storm gives you meteors every few seconds or better. The Great Meteor Storm of 1833 produced hundreds of thousands of meteors per hour.

In the title text, Randall suggests the next meteor storm could be 2034, probably because this is predicted to be a good year for Leonids. A few stars, when they turn supernova, are so bright they can be seen during the day. SN 1054 is one example. This is very rare and very hard to predict. There is a (very small) chance that the giant star Betelgeuse will go supernova within Randall's lifetime, allowing him to tick this off the list too. Randall even mentioned that this could not happen soon enough in 1644: Stargazing.

Transcript

This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.

[There are three rows equally filled with squares and above are year dates beginning from 2002 until 2017. The first year is cut on the left and the color is light gray then fading in to black until 2005. Left of the three rows the text reads:]

Total eclipse

Aurora

Meteor storm

[Below the year 2017 the squares in the first two rows are checked.]

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Discussion

Worth noting that the Orionids are the last major shower of the year: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/orionid.html 108.162.246.215 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Venus is sometimes visible during the day. A daylight supernova need not be the second brightest object in the night sky.162.158.62.159 13:30, 8 September 2017 (UTC)

The Moon is also sometimes visible during the day. SN 1006 and SN 1054 were brighter than Venus at maximum brightness but still dimmer than the Moon. --Dgbrt (talk) 14:02, 8 September 2017 (UTC)

Randall is likely talking about the expected replenishment of the Leonids http://www.imo.net/50-years-ago-the-1966-leonid-meteor-storm/ 172.68.65.18 14:55, 8 September 2017 (UTC)

Aurora viewing in "perhaps parts of Maine"? Maine's northern limit is ~47.5 degrees. Most of the US/Canada border is at 49 degrees, which is still too far south for good aurora views, but being in Seattle gets you closer to the pole than Maine. 108.162.216.160 18:59, 8 September 2017 (UTC)

Auroras are centered on the Earth's geomagnetic poles, not the geographic poles. The geomagnetic pole is currently on Ellesmere Island and is closer to Portland, ME than Seattle, WA. The closest spot in the contiguous US to the geomagnetic north pole might be in northern Maine, Isle Royale, MI or the Northwest angle, depending on exactly which epoch is used for the location of the pole.162.158.62.159 00:22, 9 September 2017 (UTC)

Could Randal's mention of a supernova be interpreted to mean that our sun goes supernova and since that's the last thing he sees, he jsut closes off his bucket list? 108.162.221.58 22:55, 8 September 2017 (UTC)

Nice idea, and fits with Randall's sense of humor, but he knows that while it is possible that a nearby star will go supernova in his lifetime (though unlikely) our sun will never go supernova because it is too small. And the odds of our sun going nova anytime soon are meaningfully zero (on the same order of magnitude of the odds that every atom that makes up the clothing you are wearing suddenly quantum tunneling two feet to your left). 162.158.78.124 14:54, 9 September 2017 (UTC)

I always have to share my favorite song about Romance and Science: Judith Edelman: Magnetic. Read the lyrics at one of the first comments, "...Will the aurora borealis give us one last show?". --Dgbrt (talk) 20:31, 9 September 2017 (UTC)

Total Solar Eclipse: (16 times) check, Aurora (both northern and southern) check, Meteor Storm (1966) check, Naked eye visible supernova (SN 1987A) check, Transit of Venus: (2004 & 2012) check, Comet impact into a planet (Jupiter) check, Volcanic eruption (Mt. St. Helens, Kilauea, Mt. Erebus, etc.) check, Tsunami (Marshall Islands) check, Major Earthquake (Turkey, China, US) check, Hurricane (US, Virgin Islands, etc.) check, Tornado (several close up on the state of NM) check, Earth Poles, (North Geographic Pole, South Geographic Pole. North Magnetic, South Magnetic) check, World records (1980 and 1990 record book) check, .. still hoping to go into outer space, still hoping to see a naked eye Supernova in our galaxy, plus and a few other cool things: nevertheless, I'm well satisfied with my life so far. Chongo (talk) 09:08, 10 September 2017 (UTC)

FYI: There was no total solar eclipse in 2014, 2011, 2007, 2005, 2004, ... Chongo (talk) 09:26, 10 September 2017 (UTC)

I'm not the only one who can see 'Wave of Hurricanes' right? 108.162.238.83 12:27, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

Someone changed the image on this site. xkcd.com still shows the original with "Meteor Storm". If I knew how to fix this, I would. 108.162.238.95

It's corrected back to the original. But you must be patient to see it until the cache on the website is expired.--Dgbrt (talk) 14:23, 11 September 2017 (UTC)--Dgbrt (talk) 14:23, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

Someone has broken it again 172.68.65.18 15:53, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

No, and the cache on the server has expired. Press F5 and you will see the correct picture. --Dgbrt (talk) 19:59, 11 September 2017 (UTC)

There was a meteor storm back in 2014 that peaked at over 100,000 meteors per hour. It's a shame we were on the wrong planet. 108.162.210.106 21:44, 21 October 2017 (UTC)

https://www.cnet.com/news/supernova-iptf13dqy-spotted-hours-after-star-explosion-nature-physics/172.69.62.184 01:44, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

Spam by X. K. C. D.? 172.70.131.106 22:53, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

The reason why I added "^{[actual citation needed]}" to the figure: Remember that it is currently not unproven that light could travel instantaneously in one direction and half as fast in the other direction. The speed of light is in actuality just an average between the two outliers in speed. I also said this (exactly, word for word) in my edit summary. SilverTheTerribleMathematician (talk) 02:33, 22 December 2022 (UTC)

This happened again in 2024! 162.158.62.236 14:17, 3 June 2024 (UTC)