# Random thought about Superman **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [December 29, 2025, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151 "2025-12-29T21:21:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/1 "2025-12-29T21:21:07Z")
What happens to Superman’s powers if he goes to a binary star system composed of a sun-like yellow star and a red dwarf? Does he lose them or not? There’s a very old thread about Superman’s powers which this question is appropriate for, but it’s so old that Discourse has lost the names of the people posting. All the posts are creditied to @system. This particular post from Dr.\_Fidelius (he signed his post) has some relevance to my question: > [@The nature of Superman's powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-nature-of-supermans-powers/2028/5): > > A yellow sun puts out energy in wavelengths that enhance the natural psi powers of the Kryptonian humanoid. All of Kal-El’s powers are a variety of psychokinesis or clairvoyance. Green kryptonite has a radiation which interferes with the Kryptonian metabolism. As it first cancels out the secondary mainfestations of Kryptonians in a yellow-sun environment, the “super powers” are masked well before death occurs. Other varieties of kryptonite have been reported, the differing radiations causing the… ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/2 "2025-12-30T00:27:25Z")
A bit of googling indicates that this is a longstanding question. And the consensus seems to be that either the brighter yellow sunlight would overwhelm and cancel out the weaker red, or that he’d end up about half-power. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/3 "2025-12-30T00:32:08Z")
Superman’s powers seem to get retconned yearly. Yellow sun, mumble, mumble, solar battery, mumble mumble, alien DNA (aliens have DNA?). In the olden, olden days he used to lose his powers under a green sun, but he also flew from star to star through empty space. How could that work? Oh, right. It worked however the writer of the story wanted it to work. And always will. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/4 "2025-12-30T00:33:09Z")
In the really old days, he was just from a high-gravity planet, right? ---
**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:** [December 30, 2025, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/5 "2025-12-30T00:33:28Z")
Or, alternately, what if he were in deep space, far from all stars? I think it’s only yellow sunlight, or its lack, that matters. Red suns are only relevant in as far as they’re not yellow: Under a red sun, he doesn’t gain any more power, but it doesn’t sap his power, either (though he has some reserves he can use to keep on super-ing for a while in such an environment). So a red sun would be the same as no sun, and a binary red-and-yellow would be the same as just yellow. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/6 "2025-12-30T01:02:22Z")
The [Superman wiki](https://superman.fandom.com/wiki/Superman%27s_Powers_and_Abilities) says: > As presented in the original 1939 ongoing (last time co-creator Jerry Siegel ever wrote published origin of the character in comics), Superman’s powers were innate to all supermen (original name of the people of Krypton) whose “physical structure was millions of years advanced of [humanity’s] own.” Later on, supermen were shown using the same powers that Superman would have on Earth. > > Superman’s powers were enhanced and added to from the 1940s until the mid-eighties. His powers were explained as a result of two factors: the comparatively weaker gravity of Earth, and the intensity of Earth’s yellow sun (Yellow Sun as a power source is first mentioned in Action Comics #262 1961, in a back-up story by Otto Binder and Jim Mooney). As such, Superman’s powers were negated if he entered an environment similar to that of Krypton, such as the bottle city of Kandor, or if he was exposed to the solar energy of a red sun … From what that piece says, a red sun still negates his powers in all canon since. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/7 "2025-12-30T01:03:56Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > In the really old days, he was just from a high-gravity planet, right? In the really old days, he just had a physical structure millions of years in advance of our own. Here’s the first page of Action Comics #1, as old as the days get. [![](https://i.imgur.com/jqrhmQJ.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/jqrhmQJ.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/8 "2025-12-30T01:07:28Z")
My head canon is that being exposed to the yellow sun through the entirety of childhood eventually made his powers permanent and portable. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/9 "2025-12-30T01:09:55Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Yellow Sun as a power source is first mentioned in Action Comics #262 1961 I’m astounded that it was that recent. That seems like something I should have known. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/10 "2025-12-30T01:14:19Z")
Thanks guys! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/11 "2025-12-30T01:27:33Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Yellow Sun as a power source is first mentioned in Action Comics #262 1961 And here’s the relevant section of that, a story where Supergirl is reminiscing about her arrival on Earth. [![](https://i.imgur.com/RHMbuu7.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/RHMbuu7.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/12 "2025-12-30T01:51:45Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > A bit of googling indicates that this is a longstanding question. And the consensus seems to be that either the brighter yellow sunlight would overwhelm and cancel out the weaker red, or that he’d end up about half-power. What happens if the planet is in the plane of the two stars’ orbit, such that the stars would eclipse each other every orbit. The stars’ orbit, that is, which could be multiple eclipses per day if they’re in a really tight orbit. Does Sup lose his powers every time the red sun is in front and get increased power when the yellow is in front? > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Oh, right. It worked however the writer of the story wanted it to work. And always will. That’s no fun for speculators. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/13 "2025-12-30T02:03:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Or, alternately, what if he were in deep space, far from all stars? That’s where the “solar battery” idea comes from: he stores up yellow sunlight on Earth, and burns through it gradually when he’s in space. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2025, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/14 "2025-12-30T02:47:45Z")
He already manages to sustain his superpowers overnight. A binary eclipse couldn’t last that long. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/15 "2025-12-30T03:19:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He already manages to sustain his superpowers overnight. A binary eclipse couldn’t last that long That depends on whether a red star is neutral or actively reducing his powers. If the binary is only giving him half power, then the red must somehow be reducing. In that case, when the red eclipses the yellow, he’d lose power altogether. Admittedly, an eclipse will only last a few minutes at most, so he’ll soon be getting the powers back. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/16 "2025-12-30T03:55:30Z")
If he is somewhere in space between two stars when his powers fade, that eclipse better be shorter than a few minutes. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/17 "2025-12-30T16:57:46Z")
Hmmm. If the planet is orbiting the yellow sun, and the red sun (also orbiting the yellow) is farther away, the yellow sun will be out every day, and the red sun will sometimes also be out in the day and sometimes be out at night. With both suns out in daytime, depending on relative distances the yellow one would have a greater (or even much greater) effect than the red one. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/18 "2025-12-30T17:24:33Z")
What colour sun gives humans super powers? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/19 "2025-12-30T17:48:45Z")
_Durazno_ That’s the peachy color of the sun in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. I hung out with surfers there in the '70s, and I’ve never felt stronger… ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151/20 "2025-12-30T18:13:09Z")
In the Bronze Age (1970-1985), _any_ exposure to red solar radiation instantly robs Kryptonians of their powers, _even if_ yellow sunlight is also present. This was how Lex Luthor captured Superman in the Elliot S! Maggin novel _Superman: Last Son of Krypton_. (There, they also explained that _blue_ solar radiation left all of Superman’s powers intact _except_ for his super senses.) I even have a “Supergirl and the TRS-80 Whiz Kids” comic from the time (an official DC product!), where Supergirl lost her powers while flying over a farmhouse – during broad daylight – because the solar panels on its roof “suddenly turned red”. EDIT: And a Superboy cartoon from the 1960s (the Silver Age) shows Superboy being depowered by exposure to red sunlight, but getting his powers back when shadows blot out the red sun. Also, Krypto (Superboy’s pet superdog) was unaffected by the red solar radiation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/random-thought-about-superman/1026151.md?page=2)