# Glaring astronomy mistakes in a movie or video **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [September 5, 2026, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849 "2026-09-05T20:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/61 "2026-09-07T09:15:58Z")
2.3 AU is the fatal distance for neutrinos, according to XKCD. > **[Lethal Neutrinos](https://what-if.xkcd.com/73/)** Probably still dangerous at Saturn’s distance, but much less dangerous than the gamma rays and shock wave, which would be following the gamma rays at more than a tenth of the speed of light. Ordinary matter, propelled by light pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/62 "2026-09-07T10:10:57Z")
It’s possible to watch the sun setting over the ocean from Vietnam - if you’re in An Giang or Cà Mau in the southwest. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/63 "2026-09-07T11:21:21Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Well, the difference between the first night of a waning (or waxing) gibbous is hardly different than a full moon. Yes - I don’t think werewolf lore generally has the change happening solely on the night of the actual full moon. _American Werewolf in Paris_ also had the wolf rampaging on multiple nights. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2026, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/64 "2026-09-07T11:54:46Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Most asteroids would be traveling around 40,000 miles per hour when they impact the Earth, so would take more than 10 minutes to travel a distance equal to the Earth’s diameter. 40,000 MPH would be a ludicrously slow speed for any impactor from space. The correct units there are miles per second. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/65 "2026-09-07T11:59:44Z")
The Chicxulub asteroid - the dinosaur killer - was estimated to have hit Earth at 20 km per second. … which is about 44,000 mph. ---
**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:** [September 7, 2026, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/66 "2026-09-07T12:04:41Z")
OK, I’m not sure precisely what my brain was doing there. I think I was overlapping the “thousand” in “kilometer” with the “thousand” in the number. To be fair, it’s 8 AM here. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/67 "2026-09-07T12:23:36Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > In the second pilot, the Enterprise tries to fly through the energy barrier at the edge of the galaxy, but incurs a lot of damage. Also, in _By Any Other Name_, they successfully fly through the barrier. Apparently you cannot leave the galaxy without flying through this barrier, but it is a cloudy band only about the thickness of possibly a few billion miles at most, so if it did indeed exist, it would be all but child’s play to go around it (over or under). Of course, there is no such structure, the galaxy just gets sparser and sparser as you go outward. Probably the silliest astronomy-based Trek-ism ever. Note it also triggered psychic powers in both Gary Mitchell and Elizabeth Dehner. David Gerrold had it right when he described it as “trying to bisect a sneeze.” ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/68 "2026-09-07T12:49:59Z")
The Artemis 2 mission poster put out by NASA bothers me to no end of how completely out of scale the distance is. [https://printerval.com/artemis-ii-2-mission-space-travel-nasa-poster-p2577012026?spid=3419738029&tr=&adgroupid=&campaignid=23230257549&utm\_source=adwords&utm\_medium=paid&gad\_source=1&gad\_campaignid=23235417323&gbraid=0AAAAA9xz-1TwVXOac1SvN\_XjJUB3yv3E6&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu4H9xr3clgMV0yGtBh1PMTtOEAQYBSABEgLZtfD\_BwE](https://printerval.com/artemis-ii-2-mission-space-travel-nasa-poster-p2577012026?spid=3419738029&tr=&adgroupid=&campaignid=23230257549&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=paid&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23235417323&gbraid=0AAAAA9xz-1TwVXOac1SvN_XjJUB3yv3E6&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu4H9xr3clgMV0yGtBh1PMTtOEAQYBSABEgLZtfD_BwE) Sure, I suppose it’s rather inconvenient to make a 6 foot long poster [https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/801254](https://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/801254) and I know THEY know it’s out of scale and for reference only, but when you’re trying to educate the uneducated public about space and this image comes to mind when they think “earth to moon “ travel I think they performed a big disservice to the masses. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/69 "2026-09-07T12:57:35Z")
This is true; a little research, though, tells me the GBs were stationed in Da Nang which only has beaches facing Northwest, ergo no sunset over the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/70 "2026-09-07T13:32:08Z")
According to the Star Trek novels The Galactic Barrier was created by the Q so any inconsistencies with actual science can blamed on on its artificial nature created by a race of reality warpers. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/71 "2026-09-07T14:46:44Z")
If an asteroid hits us at 20% the speed of light, it’s going to be a bad day. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/72 "2026-09-07T14:56:34Z")
Also a great book is Death From the Skies. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/73 "2026-09-07T14:57:53Z")
That’s what I tell the dog when it’s time for the eyedrops. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/74 "2026-09-07T15:33:35Z")
_The Wandering Earth_ gets called hard sci-fi in many quarters. I haven’t read the novella, but in the movie: - Thrusters are attached to the equator that will propel earth to another star system. This is in the 2050s btw, so the near future. - A “gravitational spike” means the earth is on course to hit jupiter - But no worries, because they remember jupiter has hydrogen in its atmosphere, so they ignite it with their engines and the resultant blast pushes earth away All plausible enough, no need to check the working ---
**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:** [September 7, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/75 "2026-09-07T15:54:44Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > _The Wandering Earth_ gets called hard sci-fi in many quarters. [Citation needed] What quarters? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/76 "2026-09-07T16:01:55Z")
You really want me to post cites? You dispute that many quarters (so not claiming all or the majority) called Wandering Earth, and indeed, its sequel, hard sci-fi? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/77 "2026-09-07T16:03:48Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Bad Astronomy! I miss Bad Astronomer. He was great. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/78 "2026-09-07T17:09:23Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I don’t remember that. That’s really cool. > > Wait a minute, I had to think a second: his shadow is casting a reflection in the mirror while he isn’t. I’ve never heard of that in any vampire lore; I love it! Which makes me wonder how many vampires have been accidentally backed over by people who only use their mirrors when reversing. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/79 "2026-09-07T17:24:36Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > What if the werewolf is on Mars? Where wolf? _There_ wolf. (I thought you wanted to talk that way.) ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849/80 "2026-09-07T17:27:46Z")
Especially if a light source is behind you, casting his shadow on your rear windshield. Back up camera won’t work, either. What’s an Orloff to do? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glaring-astronomy-mistakes-in-a-movie-or-video/1032849.md?page=5)