The Opening Scene

I question the plausibility of the opening scene, in which astronomers can see the stars through their telescope at high noon--and then lower their sights so that Matthew Broderick can look at his girlfriend. This is kind of weird. Even weirder is what they actually say. The professor chap comments that Broderick has predicted that Alpha Orionis will go supernova. Alpha Orionis, better known as Betelguese, is one of the brightest stars in the sky. If it were to go supernova this would be the most spectacular astronomical event in recorded history. It isn't impossible that it might rival the sun in brightness for a few days. Of course, if such an event did occur, most astronomers would be so excited about it that they would likely not sleep, eat, focus their telescopes at their girlfriends, or even notice that their girlfriends had left them for weeks.

Anyone who successfully predicted such a thing would win fellowships, professorships, prizes, and celebrity, and would, I think, be rather too busy to be involved in the events in the rest of the movie.