Difference between revisions of "Main Page"
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== New here? == | == New here? == | ||
| − | + | Create your account [[Special:UserLogin/signup|here]].</div></div> | |
You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at [[explain xkcd]]. Feel free to [[Special:UserLogin/signup|create an account]] and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for xkcd [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|comics]], [[:Category:Characters|characters]], [[What If? chapters|''What If?'' articles]], and [[:Category:xkcd|everything in between]]. If it is referenced in an [[xkcd]] comic, it should be here. | You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at [[explain xkcd]]. Feel free to [[Special:UserLogin/signup|create an account]] and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for xkcd [[:Category:Incomplete explanations|comics]], [[:Category:Characters|characters]], [[What If? chapters|''What If?'' articles]], and [[:Category:xkcd|everything in between]]. If it is referenced in an [[xkcd]] comic, it should be here. | ||
Revision as of 07:26, 30 May 2025
Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki!
We have an explanation for all 3212 xkcd comics, and only 62 (1.9%) are incomplete. Help us finish them!
Latest comic
| Binary Star |
 Title text: The discovery of a fully typographical star system comes with a big asterisk. |
Explanation
While a "main sequence star" is a real celestial object, a five-pointed star is how stars are often drawn. The comic uses a drawn star shape to be a part of a celestial star system.
In reality pointed stars do not actually exist, it is just an optical illusion caused by the diffraction spike effect.
The title text similarly uses the * symbol (an asterisk - meaning little star), which is sometimes called a star, to be another real celestial star. A "big asterisk" is used as a metaphor for a rather large caveat, symbolizing a long footnote.
Transcript
- [Graphical depiction of a binary star system. One star is revolving circularly close to the center of mass and is shown as a dot. The other has a visibly elliptic orbit located further and is currently close to its apastron. It's depicted as a pentagram.]
- [Caption below the image:]
- Space news: astronomers have found the first known system with a main-sequence star orbited by a five-pointed one.
View comic discussionNew here?
Create your account here.</div></div>
You can read a brief introduction about this wiki at explain xkcd. Feel free to create an account and contribute to the wiki! We need explanations for xkcd comics, characters, What If? articles, and everything in between. If it is referenced in an xkcd comic, it should be here.
- If you're new to wiki editing, see the explain xkcd:Editor FAQ for a specific guidance to this wiki and the more general help on how to edit wiki pages. There's also a handy wikicode cheatsheet.
- Discussion about the wiki itself happens at the Community portal.
- You can browse the comics from the list of all comics or by navigating the category tree at Category:Comics.
- The incomplete explanations are listed here. Feel free to help out by expanding them!
Rules
Don't be a jerk!
There are a lot of comics that don't have set-in-stone explanations; feel free to put multiple interpretations in the wiki page for each comic.
If you want to talk about a specific comic, use its discussion page.
Please only submit material directly related to xkcd and, of course, only submit material that can legally be posted and freely edited. Off-topic or other inappropriate content is subject to removal or modification at admin discretion, and users who repeatedly post such content will be blocked.
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