MovieChat Forums > Supernova (2005) Discussion > The truth about supernova

The truth about supernova

posted 19 years ago by eye_photographer
14 replies | jump to latest

I have not seen this movie nor do I want to, but I wish they chose a different name for the movie. I keep seeing the ads on cable.

While everyone out there are not scientists and I do not expect everyone to truly understand the astrophysical processes out there, but our Sun will NEVER go supernova. It is a plain old, middle-aged star that will evolve into a red-giant star (swelling in size of the Earth's orbit) then it will just fade away into a planetary nebula with a white dwarf at the center.

Sure the name sounds cool, but this is the kind of misinformation that seems to run rampant in the entertainment biz. I do not think the movie is about a supernova, but something else. Still, the premise seems a bit silly.

For those interested in learning more about the reality of astronomy, I found a great site: http://astronomyonline.org

[–] childofgaia01 19 years ago

It's just Bad Science. The movie DOES say that the Sun will go supernova, because an astronomer (Peter Fonda) believes it is much older than it really is. The Sun starts going through the "proper phases" to becoming a supernova; once Luke Perry discovers a teensy mistake in some equation, numbers change, and suddenly the Sun isn't going to supernova any more. And it doesn't - nothing else about it is mentioned again, no more symptoms or whatever appear, etc.

[–] ChromWolf 18 years ago

Even if our sun was the type of star that *could* go supernova (and such a star type could support a planetary system capable of supporting life, etc. etc.), wouldn't a supernova either (A) destroy the planet entirely in the nova, or (B) leave the planet unlivable as the gravitic forces would show the planet out into space on its own, with no more heat or light source....? I mean, with an earthquake or a flood... and I'm ashamed to admit it, but maybe even an asteroid hitting the earth... sure, we can survive those, and I suppose for some, that'd make a fun movie. :P :)

....But isn't the whole concept of our star exploding sort of nothing we could (A) avoid, or (B) nothing we'd be around to click our tongues and shake our heads at...? :P :)

[–] the-decryptor 18 years ago

if our sun went supernova, the earth would be wiped out, with the massive release of cosmic radiation, then the heat would melt the earth's surface (and the force of explosion would also give what's left some momentum)

one thing i noticed in the movie was that they were talking about supernova, yet some of the effects they were talking about, would be what happens during Red Giant stage (which will happen) but after that happens, all life on earth would die anyway, and after it collapses into a dwarf, the temperature of the earth's surface would drop, by about 100 degrees celsius or so (not exactly sure of the real temperature) so i hope the survivors have warm clothes. ;)

[–] Soapus 18 years ago

Eh, we'll be extinct long before then! From what I've heard, the kinetic theory of gases says that the oceans will eventually dry as a result of the sun's gradual rise in core temperature. Even if we move to a new solar system (which I doubt we ever will), we'll eventually succumb to heat loss at the end of the stelliferrous era.

[–] jacques_05 18 years ago

Even for a long time after star formation ends
there'll be lots of hydrogen stored up in old brown dwarfs
and gas giant planets... that will be an energy resource
for a long time

[–] nickthegreek13-7 17 years ago

Hi there! eye_photographer, well done for opening this thread.It's true, our sun doesn't have enough mass to explode as a supernova.But after 4-5 billion years it will become a Red Giant before becoming a White Dwarf.Of course, until then all life as we Know it will die on Earth along with the planet itself so I guess we won't have to worry when that time comes :-)

[–] HHFan 17 years ago

So what, then it turns into a red giant or something - its not a science program, nor religious propagande - its just some running around and screaming a bit fun.

[–] puirt-a-beul 15 years ago

Yeah, the sun isn't the right type of star to go supernova, you're right.

What bothered me more (I'm just watching it now on TV here in Sydney ... or am I really in Cape Town?!), was the nonsense that would have us believe the whole process of going nova is something that would just happen one day -- yesterday the sun was fine, today it's going nova! OH NO!!!! Yesterday there were no problems, and nobody detected anything, but today dolphins are beaching themselves and ducks are eating TV reporters' shoes.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] puirt-a-beul 15 years ago

It most likely won't go supernova. It doesn't have enough mass to generate the kind of explosion required to go supernova.

Instead, it'll just burn, getting gradually cooler as it ages. As it starts to burn out, the gases will expand, and the physical globe of the sun will grow in size to what's called a red giant. It will expand enough to gobble up Mercury and Venus, and probably Earth. Then, as it cools further, it'll shrink back into a dwarf star, and eventually just fizzle out.

We'll be long gone, though -- either having gone somewhere else in the galaxy, or died off as a species, or we'll simply die when the sun starts expanding. But it won't happen overnight, and it won't be anything like in this movie.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] puirt-a-beul 15 years ago

Yes, it would have mass. But no, it wouldn't make a black hole.

Perhaps paradoxically, it actually takes a lot *more* mass to make a black hole, to generate gravitational forces sufficiently strong that they effectively pull the star in on itself. It becomes a black hole because the gravitational forces become so strong that not even light can escape from the star. They're freaky things.

But just as not all stars will go supernova, not all collapsing stars will form a black hole.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Crusader_TM 10 years ago

First of all, the movie follows the Recycled Star theory, that the sun is much older than we think it is.

Also, in the movie they didn't just discover one day that it would soon end, they discovered it years ago but kept it quiet. They never said that it would happen in just a few days.

They said clearly in the movie that all life on earth will be dead long before the Supernova. They also explained that what would happen was that the sun would get bigger until it would engulf the earth.

A planet size meteorite struck the sun and started a chain-reaction of solarflares that they thought were the start of the Supernova.

So I wouldn't say they got all the facts wrong. They just changed the facts of the sun because if they didn't they would never be able to do a movie about a coming Supernova. ;)