Editing 3096: Check Engine

{{comic
| number    = 3096
| date      = May 30, 2025
| title     = Check Engine
| image     = check_engine_2x.png
| imagesize = 331x383px
| noexpand  = true
| titletext = They say it's probably safe to keep orbiting for a while, but if it stays on or starts flashing we might have to call someone.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by THE SOLAR PIT CREW. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
{{w|Sunspot|Sunspots}} are temporary, relatively small, darker (because cooler) regions on the surface of Earth's Sun. The number of sunspots that can be observed varies over an approximately 11-year cycle. The current cycle is {{w|Solar_cycle_25|the 25th since reckoning began in 1755}}.

The joke in this comic is that the sunspot array shown has taken the form of a "{{w|Check engine light}}", found on the instrument panel of most automobiles. The illumination of this light means that the automobile's onboard computer has detected an engine malfunction, which should be checked out by an experienced mechanic. For such a signal to appear among the nuclear fires and plasma of the sun would most certainly be of concern to astronomers.

Apart from very old vehicles (with far more obvious status lights) and fairly new ones (with a full '{{w|glass cockpit}}' approach), it is common for various lit indicators on a dashboard to be formed by subtly translucent shapes in the base board, around the various active dials for vehicle/engine speeds and the like, that only become obvious when a light goes on behind them. The position and purpose of the lights regarding the current use of indicators, headlights, etc, may quickly become very familiar to a driver, even in a previously unfamiliar vehicle. Other warning lights may be less frequently seen, and may not be entirely obvious that they exist, until they light up or the vehicle's operating manual is read thoroughly enough. The Check Engine light is one that drivers will rarely see (and usually hope that they never have cause to, as it might mean a costly problem; or at least the inconvenience of paying someone to check, to possibly find that it's merely a sensor error), and a strange new light with a perhaps ambiguous shape or lettering is bound to worry an owner of a vehicle, especially as it gets older and various possible faults become more likely to occur.

The display system in use by the Sun, if not a full-on glass-cockpit display, seems to be an inverse of the backlit-symbol method, activating a "black patch" (perhaps akin to the method used in a {{w|liquid-crystal display}}) that has been waiting there just for such a time as it is needed. As with drivers' vehicles, this probably hints at there being a few more such messages, hidden and currently inactive, and could prompt some people to go looking for the long-unread manual to discover ''what else'' could eventually go wrong, as well as to find out as much as possible about what this current warning might entail.

The title text says that "they" (presumably the text of the Sun's owner's manual, continuing the analogy with motor vehicles) advise that it's probably safe for Earth to continue to orbit the Sun unless and until there is a change in the nature of the "check engine light" sunspot array. Such a change, on an instrument panel, signals that the matter needs immediate attention, lest something dramatic and expensive occur, such as an [https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/l8j0ip/eli5_what_is_a_seized_engine/ engine seizure], which can be spectacular and is irreparable. The solar equivalent of an engine seizure would be a {{w|Nova|nova}}, which would definitely be of concern to astronomers (and everyone else), and for which the prospect of "calling [[673: The Sun | someone]]" that can do anything useful (a cosmic tow truck to pull Earth to a safe distance?) seems remote.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
:["Check Engine" warning light (from a car's dashboard) is shown on the surface of the Sun]

:[Caption below the panel:]
:This new sunspot cluster has raised concern among astronomers

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]