Editing 1522: Astronomy

{{comic
| number    = 1522
| date      = May 8, 2015
| title     = Astronomy
| image     = astronomy.png
| titletext = Astrobiology is held back by the fact that we're all too nervous to try to balance on the ladder while holding an expensive microscope.
}}

==Explanation==
For objects at a great distance one can achieve a better view by using a {{w|telescope}} as it is the typical method in {{w|Astronomy}}. Looking through a lens or a {{w|microscope}} in {{w|biology}} and other disciplines does magnify short distant objects. And a {{w|magnifying glass}} works more like a microscope when your eye lense is close to the {{w|focus}} of the magnifying glass, but when looking at distant objects you have to increase the distance between the glass and your eye where the {{w|focal length}} of your magnifying glass must be increased to meters instead of centimeters or less on a close view. But in general a {{w|Galilean Telescope}} works at the same principle as a magnifying glass together with your eye lens, the magnifying glass only has to have a long focal length which is optimized for far distances.

In the comic, the objects being viewed by Megan could be {{w|stars}}, {{w|galaxies}} and the {{w|planets}} of our {{w|Solar System}}. [[Megan]] is using a telescope. [[Beret Guy]] attempts to view them using a step-ladder to get closer to the stars, and then looking at them through his simple hand-held magnifying glass. This approach could be successful only if the stars were a few meters away, so that the ladder would take him within a few centimeters of the study object. In fact the visible stars are several {{w|light years}} away (typically 18-20 orders of magnitude further away) and getting two meters up on a ladder won't make any perceivable difference.{{Citation needed}} (Unless, of course, you are Beret Guy.)

The title text assumes (for comic effect) that the only thing wrong with Beret Guy's strategy is the instability of the ladder endangering the expensive microscopes used by biologists for {{w|Astrobiology}}. Astrobiology is the study of life (or the possibility thereof) elsewhere in the universe, and here it would be either the planets and moons in our Solar System or {{w|exoplanets}} they needed to look at. This is the second comic related to studying exoplanets in two weeks, the first being [[1517: Spectroscopy]] (see more references there).

Since we cannot go there, they do, of course, not use any microscopes in the direct studies. However, one typical magnifier in biology is the {{w|electron microscope}}, used to study {{w|microbiology}}, and they cost a lot and are very heavy. It is therefore inadvisable to carry one up a ladder, and it could possibly become very expensive if you did try it anyway.

It might be interesting to note that a lot of developments in "terrestrial" biology (called biology here on Earth), were made by the use of a simple microscope (similar to a magnifying lens), so Beret Guy's approach might be an attempt to build on that.

==Transcript==
:[In front of a starry black sky, Megan looks at the stars through a telescope about twice her size, touching it at the base. She remains in the exact same position through all four panels.]

:[Beret Guy enters the panel holding a ladder and a magnifying glass.]

:[Beret Guy places the ladder next to Megan and her telescope. The ladder stands like a triangle, is slightly larger than Megan, but smaller than the telescope.]

:[Beret guy climbs to the top of the ladder, and looks at the stars through a magnifying glass.]

==Trivia==
Usually, however, Beret Guy has [[:Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy|strange powers]], so it's quite possible that his method would yield similar or even better results than Megan's approach; see for instance [[1490: Atoms]]. Given his naivety, it's also possible he just doesn't realize they should look any different. His naivety of astronomy is demonstrated in [[811: Starlight]].

The history of astronomy is filled with drastic misunderstanding of distances to celestial bodies, even up to the present day like [[Randall]] has covered in [[1342: Ancient Stars]]. Thus, the comic could be in reference to the general overestimation of distances, albeit taken to the opposite extreme.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Strange powers of Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Telescopes]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]
[[Category:Biology]]