1020: Orion Nebula
explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
| Orion Nebula |
 Title text: Also on the agenda: what's with his hips? |
[edit] Explanation
The Orion nebula is a diffuse nebula situated south of the three stars that compose Orion's Belt in the Orion constellation. In terms of the comic, it is the middle "star" in the sword/dong of Orion. Dong is an American slang word for penis. The star appears fuzzy to sharp-eyed observers, and the nebulosity is obvious through binoculars or a small telescope.
When the speaker says "We are no strangers to controversy" he is probably referring to Pluto's demotion from planet to a dwarf planet, or Plutoid, or whatever it's called these days.
The title text is a quip about how small and off-kilter the hips are in Orion the constellation compared to the rest of its body.
[edit] Transcript
- [Cueball stands behind a lectern decorated with the indicators of the International Astronomical Union]
- Cueball: Welcome to IAU Symposium #279.
- Cueball: We are no strangers to controversy, and we will not shy away from the tough issues. Which brings us to the subject at hand.
- [An anatomically uncensored projection of the Constellation Orion appears before the speaker]
- Cueball: It's time to talk about the fact that Orion clearly has a dong.
- Attendee in crowd #1: It's hard to miss.
- Attendee #2: we could keep telling people it's a sword.
- Attendee #3: C'mon, no one's buying that anymore.
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