Editing 1878: Earth Orbital Diagram
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | This comic is the third of five consecutive comics published in the week before | + | This comic is the third of five consecutive comics published in the week before the {{w|solar eclipse}} occurred on Monday, {{w|Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017|August 21, 2017}} which was a total solar eclipse and visible in totality within a band across the {{w|contiguous United States}} from west to east. The other comics are [[1876: Eclipse Searches]], [[1877: Eclipse Science]], [[1879: Eclipse Birds]], and [[1880: Eclipse Review]]. |
The comic claims that the reason that eclipses don't happen every month is simple to understand by looking at an orbital diagram. Ironically, the cartoon has so many parts and labels that it is far more difficult to understand than is implied. While the graph itself is based on {{w|Orbital elements|astronomical definitions}}, all the labels are nonsense in this context. In effect, the comic is a new take on a common joke in which a person asks a scientist a question, the scientist begins by saying "It's really quite simple", then proceeds to give a very lengthy and highly technical explanation that non-scientists would not be expected to understand. Diagrams for eclipses commonly include things that laypeople may not find relevant, without explanation, such as the umbra and penumbra. | The comic claims that the reason that eclipses don't happen every month is simple to understand by looking at an orbital diagram. Ironically, the cartoon has so many parts and labels that it is far more difficult to understand than is implied. While the graph itself is based on {{w|Orbital elements|astronomical definitions}}, all the labels are nonsense in this context. In effect, the comic is a new take on a common joke in which a person asks a scientist a question, the scientist begins by saying "It's really quite simple", then proceeds to give a very lengthy and highly technical explanation that non-scientists would not be expected to understand. Diagrams for eclipses commonly include things that laypeople may not find relevant, without explanation, such as the umbra and penumbra. |