# XKCD 1190: "Time"---Randall's setting something up... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 25, 2013, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901 "2013-03-25T10:31:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/361 "2013-06-28T00:32:02Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > There’s a big W that might perhaps be Cassiopeia. Not quite the same shape, but close. That’s what I thought at first, but the precise shape of Cassiopeia is not something Randall would get wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/362 "2013-06-28T00:53:55Z")
I don’t think those are real constellations (or at least, not _our_ real constellations). We’re seeing the intersection of the zodiac and the Milky Way, which means either Taurus/Gemini or Scorpius/Sagittarius (I think the former, given the angle), and that doesn’t look like either of those. Which, coming from Monroe, is a pretty clear indicator that this is definitely not intended to be Earth. He’d never use a made-up starfield where a real one would do. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/363 "2013-06-28T03:06:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Which, coming from Monroe, is a pretty clear indicator that this is definitely not intended to be Earth. He’d never use a made-up starfield where a real one would do. Could it be a timeshifted Earth starfield? ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/364 "2013-06-28T04:35:37Z")
That really big star showed up pretty early as a disk, before the sky got fully dark. It could be a local system planet (cf Venus or Jupiter) and not part of the star field. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/365 "2013-06-28T05:51:13Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Could it be a timeshifted Earth starfield? See? You all laughed at my post-Battlestar-Galactica Earth2 theory! You thought I was mad!! Who’s mad now!!!? ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/366 "2013-06-28T07:54:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t think those are real constellations (or at least, not _our_ real constellations). We’re seeing the intersection of the zodiac and the Milky Way, which means either Taurus/Gemini or Scorpius/Sagittarius (I think the former, given the angle), and that doesn’t look like either of those. > > Which, coming from Monroe, is a pretty clear indicator that this is definitely not intended to be Earth. He’d never use a made-up starfield where a real one would do. Smarter people than me are thinking Scorpius/Sagittarius (possibly missing Antares), with Venus as the bright object, viewed from 30N (from the angle of the ecliptic) in November (but not this year, as no moon is visible). The best guess is 2053 or 2085 (or back in 1949). How geeky is this 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/367 "2013-06-28T09:39:07Z")
…okay: just caught up on things: and I have to say…“Time” is awesome. Nothing else to say really: just happy to keep following along on the journey. Well done Randall. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/368 "2013-06-28T13:12:26Z")
Oh, I see it now. The orientation was just about 90 degrees off from what I’m used to: The teapot is pouring out, with its spout pointing almost straight down. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/369 "2013-06-28T21:47:06Z")
Now that it is dark I am frantically scanning the frames for big cats … There is something just popped up on a rock by the tree on the right. Small, though, for the minute. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/370 "2013-06-29T09:09:38Z")
Over at the xkcd-forum, they’re flaunting a date sometime in April, 13,291… :eek: I would have thought that the abandoned vineyard etc. points to a date not that distant in the future; it seems to say that everything was as we’re used to up until (relatively) recently. ---
**Author:** ![jrepka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@jrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrepka)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/371 "2013-07-02T04:10:54Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > Now that it is dark I am frantically scanning the frames for big cats … > > There is something just popped up on a rock by the tree on the right. Small, though, for the minute. On the [xkcd-Time: at your own pace](http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/) site, there’s a selection that allows you to view the difference between the frame and its immediate predecessor. Good for spotting random motions in the landscape. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/372 "2013-07-02T07:16:31Z")
Yeah, I use that site on my tablet, but I still have some contrast issues on those dark and light images so I generally use a PC with monitor. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2013, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/373 "2013-07-02T10:07:46Z")
100 days, 2500 frames and counting. ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2013, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/374 "2013-07-05T11:48:32Z")
Is that a test stand for a nuclear test? ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/375 "2013-07-06T04:54:54Z")
They’re going to find the top of the Statue of Liberty sticking out from the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/376 "2013-07-06T06:40:11Z")
Whatever it is at this point is going to be anticlimactic. I check this thread maybe twice a month and wow! they climbed a mountain. Big deal. Dude needs to wrap it up. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/377 "2013-07-06T13:32:34Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Whatever it is at this point is going to be anticlimactic. I check this thread maybe twice a month and wow! they climbed a mountain. Big deal. > > Dude needs to wrap it up. The funny thing is I agree it will probably be anticlimactic (if it indeed ever ends-at this point, I could see him just doing this for as long as he has a career) but I have been enjoying the trip. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/378 "2013-07-06T15:11:56Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Whatever it is at this point is going to be anticlimactic. I check this thread maybe twice a month and wow! they climbed a mountain. Big deal. You’re missing the point. The comic isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey. It’s not a long wind-up to something mind-blowing, it’s a depiction of the small moment-to-moment details that make up our lives. Occasionally something cool happens, there are long stretches of nothing much at all. I hope it runs for years. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/379 "2013-07-06T21:00:38Z")
How can it be anti-climactic if it ends on a mountain!? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901/380 "2013-07-07T01:20:30Z")
Oooh. The castle’s entirely underwater. There’s no going back for our heroes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-1190-time-randalls-setting-something-up/653901.md?page=20)