Talk:1633: Possible Undiscovered Planets

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Revision as of 00:24, 23 January 2016 by 162.158.152.89 (talk)
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Why is it late? — tbc (talk) 16:57, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

No idea but it's weird. Just some random derp 18:08, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

Why is Earth's "Distance from me" 10000km? -- 19:26, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

The diameter of Earth is ~12000km and distances are measured from the center of the object (that why there is a "Planet ruled out because I would be inside them" zone). I suppose Earth should be placed at a distance of 6000km instead of 12000k (as it is the radius, not the diameter that matter here). 141.101.66.11 19:43, 22 January 2016 (UTC)
Earth's distance seems to be to the left of the 10Mm marker on the distance line, to me, although it's hard to tell without a straightedge. Remember the plot is diameter to distance. 108.162.238.71 19:52, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

This comic bothers me because the diagonal line with Earth on it cannot possibly represent what it claims. Zero cannot be plotted on the X-axis with this log scale. The entire "I would be inside of them" region is bogus. 188.114.106.83 19:42, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

Not if you're measuring to the center of the planet. 108.162.238.71 19:52, 22 January 2016 (UTC)
Also, please sign your comments. I had to sign this one for you. 108.162.238.71 19:54, 22 January 2016 (UTC)
OK, it does make sense if you take the normal convention of arrival and turn it into total core penetration. Sorry about the signing thing. I never use this and wondered where the input for it was. I see now from googling around that you just put it at the end. 188.114.106.83 20:00, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

Planets ruled out because we could see them during the day = Stars? 162.158.56.5 21:10, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

Only stars that are close enough to see during the day. Actually, there's one star that is close enough that we can see it during the day, although for some reason Randall did not mark it on the chart: our Sun. (Every other star is so far away that it's off the chart.) —TobyBartels (talk) 21:34, 22 January 2016 (UTC)
I added the stars statement before reading your comment. Feel free to edit it.
And I agree that it's strange that Randall didn't mark the Sun. Furthermore, the Sun fits the Greek definition of planet. In fact, it fits any definition of planet better than birds or planes.--Pere prlpz (talk) 21:57, 22 January 2016 (UTC)
No not stars, this is just about planets -- you can see the moon in the day when in the right position compared to the sun. You would be able to see any planet during the day if the circular surface was sufficiently big, and with a planetary body that is a function of the size over the distance squared -- the moon is just so close that it does not have to that big 162.158.255.109 22:25, 22 January 2016 (UTC)
So shouldn't the "during the day" section be sloped, and include the moon? --162.158.252.227 23:41, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

I think Randall means "TENTH planet". 22:58, 22 January 2016 (UTC)

The subtitling of planes as "Fool's Planets" is clearly intended to be analogous to "Fool's Gold", the mineral that looks a lot like gold to the (non-expert) eye. That is, if there's a bright spot of light in the sky (usually just before dusk or just after dawn) then it might be mistaken for a planet like Venus, but instead just be the glimmer of near-horizontal sunlight off of a wing-front or body-edge of plane too high to discern a shape/silhouette against the sky, too far away to see coloured navigation lights and just happens not to be leaving a contrail. At a glance, you might assume it was something astronomical. Only by keeping an eye on it could you be sure to discern relatively rapid (perhaps non-ecliptic) movement and other details that would at least suggest it was no higher than a satellite. (Of course, it would be techncally be a UFO, leastways until you actually identified it sufficiently.) 162.158.152.89 00:24, 23 January 2016 (UTC)