Editing Talk:2469: Astronomy Status Board

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I don't think the two characters shown in the comic are necessarily junior astronomers.  The title text seems more like a comment on how people new to a field would want to do big and exciting things, and groan when told they need to do boring but essential tasks. [[User:DrPumpkinz|DrPumpkinz]] ([[User talk:DrPumpkinz|talk]]) 04:35, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

Anyone else going to make the Destiny reference? Just me? Cool. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.35.111|172.69.35.111]] 06:08, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

The two phrases, "still there" and "gone" are from the movie "before midnight 2013" when they were watching the sunset. --[[User:Eta|Eta]] ([[User talk:Eta|talk]]) 06:36, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

I was thinking that (as well as the obvious Big Rip of hard(-probably) science) there might be an oblique reference to the old (19thC?) Verne/Wells-ish tale I cannot remember the true title and author of, in which an amateur astronomer becomes aware (through being one of the few knowledgable people observing on a given night - somehow almost globally cloudy?) that the Moon is in the wrong position. Derived from this (and its later return to where it should have been, plus other observed effects from the stars to the tides) is developed a new theological science of a divine flaw (a bit like a misplaced stone in the desert of [[505]]) that can then be divinely corrected. (i.e. science effectively ''is'' 'the planets being pushed around by angels', with mystical and natural causes being the same). - Though the fact I have to explain all the differences from mere presence/absence (and Google-Fu failing me when I try to ID the story) makes this much less likely to even be involved in the conception. Still, mentioning it in case it interests, or someone can do the YASID for me. ;) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.38|141.101.98.38]] 11:05, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

When seeing the comic the first thing that came into my head was http://www.hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com which gives a similar more or less obvious status report. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 11:30, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

Luckily they don't have indicators for individual pulsars. Those would be way more effort to maintain. [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 12:26, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

... they may want to add a couple moons to the list. ;-) https://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos361.html [[Special:Contributions/162.158.89.57|162.158.89.57]] 13:35, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

I would be a lot less concerned about this if I weren't currently reading Seveneves... [[Special:Contributions/172.68.57.91|172.68.57.91]] 15:13, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

This would have been very cool if he'd released the comic earlier in the week, and briefly changed the moon's status to "gone" [[Special:Contributions/162.158.75.14|162.158.75.14]] 20:26, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

If the universe will continue expanding, other galaxies, while not technically "gone", will either move so far away we wouldn't be able to see them OR merge with our own galaxy. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 21:46, 29 May 2021 (UTC)

== Bloated explanation? ==
Is it just me, or does someone else think that the current explanation is bloated? I mean to actually explain/understand the comic everything below the current third paragraph isn't needed, imo. All other paragraphs do say something about why the objetcs listed may or may not suddenly disappear but I guess for the understanding of the comic the thirds' paragraph notion "are expected to last for bilions more" is absolutely sufficient. I propose to move everything below that paragraph into trivia section. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:33, 30 May 2021 (UTC)
:I moved it [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:46, 31 May 2021 (UTC)

Is it possible that the "sun" and "moon" still being there is a reference to the lunar eclipse that happened last Wednesday?


Ironically, I got a 503 error when I first visited this page, so maybe ExplainXKCD needs its own status board. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.71.88|172.69.71.88]] 17:26, 31 May 2021 (UTC)


https://astronomystat.us/ is now a thing. You're welcome. [[User:Jessews|jessews]] ([[User talk:Jessews|talk]]) 19:21, 31 May 2021 (UTC)
@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 Anyone else going to make the Destiny reference? Just me? Cool. [[Special:Contributions/172.69.35.111|172.69.35.111]] 06:08, 29 May 2021 (UTC)
-What exactly is the destiny reference for us uneducated? Also as a sidenote I think this is funnier if I imagine that they check if the sun is still there by aiming the telescope directly at it and looking into it.[[Special:Contributions/162.158.74.95|162.158.74.95]] 17:11, 2 June 2021 (UTC)
 The two phrases, "still there" and "gone" are from the movie "before midnight 2013" when they were watching the sunset. --[[User:Eta|Eta]] ([[User talk:Eta|talk]]) 06:36, 29 May 2021 (UTC)
@@ Line 25: / Line 23: @@
 Is it just me, or does someone else think that the current explanation is bloated? I mean to actually explain/understand the comic everything below the current third paragraph isn't needed, imo. All other paragraphs do say something about why the objetcs listed may or may not suddenly disappear but I guess for the understanding of the comic the thirds' paragraph notion "are expected to last for bilions more" is absolutely sufficient. I propose to move everything below that paragraph into trivia section. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:33, 30 May 2021 (UTC)
 :I moved it [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 08:46, 31 May 2021 (UTC)
-::Is there a way to integrate it better into the usual page style? Having a second, longer explanation where the trivia page normally is looks strange, and it lacks the casual, understandable-by-people-who-are-new-to-the-subject tone one might expect from an explanation. I request permission to edit it for brevity and merge it with the main explanation, leaving the details in Trivia as to not intimidate people looking for simple explanations. I am asking permission because this edit goes against your earlier proposal. [[User talk:Quillathe Siannodel|<sup>{)|(}</sup>]][[User:Quillathe_Siannodel|Quill]][[Special:Contributions/Quillathe_Siannodel|<sub>{)|(}</sub>]] 19:54, 31 May 2021 (UTC)
-:::I see where you are coming from. In my opinion the point of an explanation - any explanation - is to, well, explain the topic at hand. While all the additional information might be helpful if you want to dig deeper into any given topic (this is the reason why I have not outright deleted but only moved it) it's not needed to get the point of the given comic. However, if you can think of some phrasing that contains the things currently in the "second explanation" but without(!) bloating the actual explanation you're welcome :) Mind, this is an issue I'm having with many explanations on the site and everytime I feel it got out of hand too much, I try to intervene. I see that many people contributing here are very passionate and most if not all are nerds in one form or another and are VERY happy if they can write something about their field of expertise. However, if you want to know how to make apple cider you don't need to know the evolutionary history of apple trees ;) [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 13:30, 1 June 2021 (UTC)
-::::I feel that the comic is in reference to cosmological projections, so at least a small paragraph in the main section is warranted.  I have written it with some references for further reading.[[Special:Contributions/172.68.189.221|172.68.189.221]]
 Is it possible that the "sun" and "moon" still being there is a reference to the lunar eclipse that happened last Wednesday?
@@ Line 36: / Line 31: @@
 https://astronomystat.us/ is now a thing. You're welcome. [[User:Jessews|jessews]] ([[User talk:Jessews|talk]]) 19:21, 31 May 2021 (UTC)
-:Who is updating this?  Is it reliable? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.114.44|172.70.114.44]] 20:50, 1 June 2021 (UTC)
-Cueball is actively tapping away. I wonder if the status will failsafe to "gone" if it isn't confirmed still there. Sort of like the proposed status board that normally would say "The FBI hasn't demanded keys to your secure, encrypted email in the past hour" unless the operator didn't actively click a confirmation button. (To get around the gag order). [OK, everything after the second sentence is a tangent, but I hadn't thought of this since 2015 or so]
-[[User:Joejellybean|Joejellybean]] ([[User talk:Joejellybean|talk]]) 07:49, 1 June 2021 (UTC)