Editing 2439: Solar System Cartogram
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
| + | {{incomplete|Created by a BELOVED MARS ROVER. Show an example of an electoral cartogram for illustration. Please mention here why else this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
In this comic, [[Randall]] has made a {{w|cartogram}} showing the planets in the {{w|solar system}}. Cartograms are a type of map in which geographic area is displayed proportionately to some secondary characteristic - in this case, population. From the title text it is clear that the population in question is human (persons) (but even if all life forms where counted it it wouldn't matter, since the only confirmed life in the Solar System is on Earth). Thus the other planets have a population of 0 and are shown as nothing more than dots. | In this comic, [[Randall]] has made a {{w|cartogram}} showing the planets in the {{w|solar system}}. Cartograms are a type of map in which geographic area is displayed proportionately to some secondary characteristic - in this case, population. From the title text it is clear that the population in question is human (persons) (but even if all life forms where counted it it wouldn't matter, since the only confirmed life in the Solar System is on Earth). Thus the other planets have a population of 0 and are shown as nothing more than dots. | ||
| − | + | This comic is a joke about electoral cartograms. A standard {{w|United States Electoral College|American electoral map}} is very misleading. Though the split between Democrats and Republicans is about 50-50, most of the area of the U.S. map is shown in red (the color currently associated with the Republican Party). That’s because many Democrats live in densely packed districts, while many Republicans live in rural ones. This has led to the rise of electoral cartograms, where districts are proportionally adjusted in direct relation to population, correcting the misimpression that most of America is conservative. | |
| − | + | Solar system diagrams are often misleading. Illustrators are overwhelmingly forced to use a far more scaled-down spacing between planets, compared to their scaled sizes; even if they can (or care to) maintain consistency in the relative distances and/or radii on linear scales. (The huge factors of difference involved instead may lend themselves to being {{w|Solar_System_model#Scale_models_in_various_locations|physically modeled}} to better give some sense of the spacing and sizing differences.) Here, Randall has intentionally applied the wrong solution to the problem. | |
| − | + | The title text states that, even though Randall counts every active [[:Category:Mars rovers|Mars rover]] as a person (for sentimental reasons), they are almost nothing compared to Earth's roughly 7,800,000,000 persons. Mars therefore is still nothing more than a dot compared to the Earth. There are a total of five rovers at the moment; in chronological order, they are Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance. Only the latter two were functional at the time of the comic's publication, giving Mars a rover population of two. (This is a tie for all-time high. Spirit and Opportunity were active together from 2004 to 2010, when Spirit shut down. Opportunity was still active when Curiosity arrived in 2012, and remained so until 2018. With the arrival of Perseverance in 2021, there are again two active rovers. A third rover, China's {{w|Tianwen-1}}, is currently in orbit around Mars and expected to land in May 2021.) | |
| − | + | Mars rovers are a [[:Category:Mars rovers|recurring theme]] on xkcd and only a few weeks earlier, a comic named [[2433: Mars Rovers]] was released. This is the fourth comic this year to reference Mars Rovers. | |
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| + | This graph also ignores the International Space Station which had seven people onboard<ref name="EXP-64">[https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/exp-64-summary.pdf]</ref> at the time of publication. This may be a reference to areas of the United States which lack representation in Congressional and/or Presidential elections. | ||
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| − | + | References: {{reflist}} | |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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:Most solar system diagrams are misleading. | :Most solar system diagrams are misleading. | ||
:This chart offers a more accurate view by showing the planets sized by population. | :This chart offers a more accurate view by showing the planets sized by population. | ||
| − | + | :[The eight planets are shown in order with labels. All but Earth show up as tiny indistinguishable dots. Earth is large and clearly drawn, with a view approximately centered on southeast Asia, the region of highest population density.] | |
| − | :[ | + | :[The spacing between the surfaces of each planet is equal. Earth's label floats below it, while the other planets' labels connect to their respective dots with lines. Mercury, Mars, and Uranus's labels float above them, while Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune's labels float below them.] |
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
