The Science of Superman

We are all very excited by the new Superman movie and indeed Superdog!! But, have you ever thought about the science of Superman ?

Superman was born on the planet Krypton and was sent to Earth in a rocket built by his father Jor-el, who was a scientist and predicted that Krypton was going to explode. Why this was going to happen is never fully explained and there’s no natural reason that could explain this. Maybe Krypton’s orbit around its sun had begun to decline and it was reaching what is know as the Roche Limit, a point about 2.4 times higher than the radius of the central body (in this case the star) at which point gravity tears the orbiting body (in this case Krypton) apart.

We are told that Krypton orbits a red star. The closest such star is Gacrux, the third-brightest star in the southern constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross. It is 88 light years [or 528 trillion miles] away. This means even travelling as fast as he was, Superman in a rocket from Krypton would take 1.2 million years to reach Earth !!

His super powers we are told come from the effect of a yellow sun on a person born under a re sun and also from the lighter gravitational pull of the Earth, which helps him to fly. We know that the light of a red sun has a very different electromagnetic profile from that of a yellow sun. The main effect would be on plants, which would be a different colour [red or yellow or dusky white] to make the best use of the available light. Humans and animals on Earth have adapted to the relatively high ultraviolet output of a yellow sun. Superman, born under a lower UV red sun would have not such protection and would probably blister and burn.

Also life in a place with lighter gravity would not be easy, Superman might feel more buoyant but coming from a place where he adapted to a higher gravity feel, over time his bones would decalcify and his joints and muscles would degenerate and atrophy.

But in happier science news, let’s talk about Krypto, the caped companion we all didn’t’ know we needed. Krypto is the product of CGI – computer generated imagery. This means he was created by using computer software. CGI is a broad term encompassing a wide range of applications, from creating entire animated movies to adding subtle enhancements to live-action films. CGI can be 2D or 3D, static or dynamic, and is used in various media like movies, video games, and simulations. 

Look, up it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman but always look up for science!!