Close to Home by John McPherson for June 25, 2023

And Dr. Zifner paid the price for that discovery.

He had a burning curiosity

Looks like another bright idea gone wrong…

Yep, he saw the light!

But darn it, he forgot to put the solar filter in again.

Before anyone says it, Bleeb’s not there because this is a 2013 comic, pre-Bleeb.

I’m sure he had a blast

Interesting fact. An asteroid the size of a 3 story building will be passing by tonight around 7:15PM. It will only be about 100,000 miles away.

Well done Ziff. Now, about your medical insurance. As you know the pandemic has hit everyone pretty hard…

Don’t you just hate the smell of burning hair?

Pro Tool Tip:

Folks, if you’re fixin’ to fix sump’n, then we’re fixin’ to tell ya how to fix what you’re fixin’ to fix!

We’ve researched it, and found that most of the common repair flow charts show us that you only need three tools for most repairs.

WD-40, Duct Tape, and a Hammer.

1. If sump’n doesn’t move, but it should move… use WD-40.

2. If sump’n moves, but it shouldn’t move… use Duct Tape.

3. If numbers 1 and 2 don’t work, then use the hammer. If the problem can’t be fixed with the hammer,……… then it’s probably sump’n electrical or sump’n.

We are still researching number 3.

— Your friends at Pro Tips

Gamma ray burster.

Dr. Zifner should ware some sun screen.

Feh. I’ve heard of suns that are way bigger than that. I think that it’s UY Scuti that has a diameter equal to the orbit of Saturn.

At least he won’t get burned on getting the credit.

Would that be the infamous Betelgeuse?

Dr. Zifner, was too curious for his own good….he always split hairs with his colleagues

Almost a Far Side.

And it blew his mind!

Took light years off his life. :)

Maybe we should be happy with what we have!!!

He’s gonna take some heat for that one.

From that point on, the lab always smelled like bacon.

Even now, 10 years after this was originally published, visual discovery, much less imaging, of other solar systems is still difficult. Did John read this article before he made the cartoon? https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-is-an-actual-photo-of-a-planet-in-another-solar-system-89658536/

Not sure but I think it has been a long time since a professional astronomer at a large observatory looked at a direct optical image through a telescope. It’s all screens now.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I understand the joke is supposed to be HILARIOUS.

don’t let it go to your head

Pow, retina kisser!!

Brilliant, clever, great tie-in to magnifying glass burning up ants…

He was the head of the Astronomy Department. No more.

He apparently felt a burning need to scope that out.