February 25, 2013

What, if anything, is wrong with this comic?

Image Credit: Creators Syndicate, originally published 5-30-2005
This is the first few panels from a Sunday "Wizard of Id" comic from several years ago.  I would like to use it as a "What, if anything, is wrong with this picture?" challenge for my astronomy students.

So: what, if anything, do you think is wrong with this comic?

5 comments:

AriT93 said...

The wizard of ID still exists? That seems to be a glaringly "wrong" thing...

Andrew said...

Haha....that's some funny stuff. :)

Unknown said...

Both the arc of the horizon and the shadow cast on the moon would seem to imply a significantly smaller earth size in the world of Id than in our real-life planet.

Of course, the shadow cast on the moon could also indicate a different sun-to-earth/earth-to-moon distance ratio than is normal, however the smaller arc of the horizon would suggest it is a matter of size than of heavenly body separation.

Andrew said...

Interesting comment on the horizon line. I had always just assumed that the land of Id was exceptionally hilly.

I'm not sure what to make of your comment about the "shadow cast on the moon". Can you elaborate on that?

Unknown said...

After further consideration (and clearing up my own confusion between the shadow cast during an eclipse and the cause of the moon phases), I would say that the "error" in the comic is the the illuminated region of the moon extends past the "meridian" of the surface.

I suppose it could be a "shadow" if it was part-way through an eclipse event, though!