Sci-Fi just done Wrong (Impact Movie tonight 6-21)

[Hearly]

Ok, a piece of a brown dwarf hit the moon, WTF Brown dwarfs are Big Gas Giants like Jupiter (but like 80 times bigger and they're called brown dwarfs because they never started burning), now everything they described could be caused by a piece of a Neutron Star...


I mean come on did they even have any science advisers on this movie at all?

[nicolai]

Nope! Come on, this is Hollywood we're talking about. They haven't had any connection with reality in thirty years or more.

[Hearly]

Nope! Come on, this is Hollywood we're talking about. They haven't had any connection with reality in thirty years or more.

True, but they do normally try to keep from messing up this badly, I mean little things are ok, but a brown dwarf hitting the moon, would shatter it and earth as it is bigger than the distance between earth/moon..

[Spec8472]

a piece of a Neutron Star

Umm, actually no. Since the only thing making the neutron-shell on a neutron star stay the way it is, is the huge gravity from the REST of the star.

Also, The Bad Astronomer covered this: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badas ... the-earth/

[Hearly]

a piece of a Neutron Star

Umm, actually no. Since the only thing making the neutron-shell on a neutron star stay the way it is, is the huge gravity from the REST of the star.

Also, The Bad Astronomer covered this: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badas ... the-earth/

I'm not so sure, there have been lots of theories/speculation on what happens after it becomes a Neutron star, is it now a compressed metal that if the gravity was removed it would retain it's current state.. Not sure anyone could prove/disprove it.

[andy_t_roo]

True, but they do normally try to keep from messing up this badly

Do you mean as compared to using nuclear bombs to restart the earths core spinning or nuclear bombs to "fix" the suns core or having 1 nuclear bomb split an asteroid the size of texas, and throw the halves far enough apart that they don't affect the earth a few hours later? (this isignoring movies which don't even try to follow the physics of this world)

[Metatrone]

Well considering impact with objects above 5km is considered a doomsday event I really don't think the precise nature of the Dwarf is where they went wrong.
Brainiac tip: Science and Hollywood don't mix.

[ANTIcarrot]

In fairness, it was rather nice of them to remember that *other* nations have space capacity. Something usually forgotten in the race to give NASA a blowjob publicity.

[Spec8472]

Well considering impact with objects above 5km is considered a doomsday event

They could've just had that it was a really big asteroid going to hit the earth. But oh, wait... that plot was already taken by Deep Impact and others.

Anything hitting the moon hard enough to bump it off orbit is going to be taking out significant portions of the moon along with it. Instead they make up b.s about magnetic fields overriding local gravity... w.t.f?

In car terms it's like someone saying that what's stopping your windows from being wound up is that the carburettor is creating too much pressure in the fuel tank. (Yes, I know, complete nonsense)

[Mad Monk]

Lets face it, most Hollywood is fantasy. The "science" in science fiction is usually crap, even when it dosen't need to be for the sake of the plot.

Don't get me started on "History" either - even Scots cringe at "Braveheart", and "Patriot", "Gladiator" and 101 other films just twist facts for no real reason. Don't misunderstand me - I enjoy the films as a bit of escapism, several of them are well made, but what is the point of twisting history for no reason?

[ANTIcarrot]

Anything hitting the moon hard enough to bump it off orbit is going to be taking out significant portions of the moon along with it. Instead they make up b.s about magnetic fields overriding local gravity... w.t.f?

And very selectively too. The train leaves the ground, but atmospheric pressure, and the ground itself, seem rather unaffected.

As I was watching the trailer I couldn't hep but think, "You know, this would work so much better if it was a super-science alien space craft." It woudl still be complete nonsense, but at lest it would be slightly more plausible.

[Metatrone]

Yep in the last year alone there were at least a couple shoddy "impact" movies.
Oh yeah, ANTIcarrot is right, I had complete block out how this huge gravity field didn't affect atmosphere in any way whatsoever. We should be sucking space dust right about now.
Not to mention a object with as much velocity and mass, as they claimed, should've blown the moon right out of the sky, or at least made it doughnut shaped.