Monday, May 30, 2016

INTERSTELLAR MOVIE: Science...not science fiction

 If you have ever seen the movie Interstellar it is amazing to say the least. My favorite scene is on Miller's planet and the approaching wave that measured 1km was simply breathtaking. Not to mention the other scenes such as the worm whole near Saturn or the image of Gargantua the black hole.

However, can such events take place in our universe? Is Interstellar simply movie magic? Or is there credible science to the movie?

Interstellar
The movie itself was written by Christopher Nolan with the help of Astrophysicist Kip Thorne who is regarded as one of the leading Astrophysicists today. (Click Here) to watch a 1hr video of the science of Interstellar according to Kip Thorne. Together, the movie of Interstellar became real and as scientifically plausible as possible. Some scenes perhaps might be a far chance of reality but in the science of physics plausible...but probably not possible. For example, the worm hole near Saturn where the Endeavor space shuttle that was carrying the crew to venture into another dimension turns out that worm holes are possible according to the physics. However, to keep a worm hole open long enough to allow a space shuttle inside to transport into another dimension is highly not possible at least not yet. Can it happen? Perhaps we will have to wait and find out.

Black Hole Gargantua
Gargantua is the name of the black hole in the movie. The black hole plays an important role because Miller's planet is orbiting Gargantua. The black hole was designed using data about light and stars and how they would be influenced approaching the black hole. The light that surrounds the black hole is called the accretion disc. The accretion disc is the remains of light that is orbiting around the black hole giving the black hole it's orbital shape. The scientific community has agreed that depiction of Gargantua in the movie is what a black hole would look like if we were close enough to see them.

Millers Planet and 1km Waves
The scene on Millers Planet showed a wave the size of 1km. But how is this possible? It's simple. Since Miller's planet is so close to the black hole Gargantua the massive gravitational pull that Gargantua places on Miller's Planet stretches and pulls against the planet that causes the wave to stretch 1km. Our moon that orbits our Earth creates the wave sizes that we can witness on our planet. The moon's gravitational pull is much less than Gargantua. Therefore, waves the size of 1km is not that far fetched depending on gravitational pull against an orbiting planet and or moon.


The science of Interstellar is plausible...and possible. Drafted from Science...not science fiction.