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Superman and his ilk have always been portrayed as capable of traveling into deep space, then returning easily to Earth. What's left out of this picture is a crucial detail: once Earth is out of sight, he'd never find it again in the vastness of space. Of course, the Sun would be very visible for billions of miles, but that won't help much.
In real life, a Superman or similar being capable of flying into space would need to bring a navigational system to pinpoint Earth's location. I'm not even sure how a deepspace GPS would work; it would probably have to use the stars to determine very precise positioning.
Or he'd need a radio receiver with a fairly big dish pointed toward the Earth. If it lost the connection, it might not reconnect, and he'd be lost forever in space.
This is the flaw in lots of sci-fi stories about interplanetary travel; they always assume that astrogation is simple and routine, when in reality it's anything but. I'm even questioning whether it's possible at all.
Superman and his ilk have always been portrayed as capable of traveling into deep space, then returning easily to Earth. What's left out of this picture is a crucial detail: once Earth is out of sight, he'd never find it again in the vastness of space. Of course, the Sun would be very visible for billions of miles, but that won't help much.
In real life, a Superman or similar being capable of flying into space would need to bring a navigational system to pinpoint Earth's location. I'm not even sure how a deepspace GPS would work; it would probably have to use the stars to determine very precise positioning.
Or he'd need a radio receiver with a fairly big dish pointed toward the Earth. If it lost the connection, it might not reconnect, and he'd be lost forever in space.
This is the flaw in lots of sci-fi stories about interplanetary travel; they always assume that astrogation is simple and routine, when in reality it's anything but. I'm even questioning whether it's possible at all.
I'm not sure why someone who accepts the premise of Superman (and without acceptance of that premise, this discussion is moot), which features such things as being bulletproof, the ability to project heat from his eyes, and the ability to fly, among many others, goes on to quibble about Superman inevitably getting 'lost in space'. It's weird.
Besides that? It's wrong.
The Sun isn't just visible for 'billions of miles'. Our star has an absolute magnitude of 4.83, and so would be visible to human eyes out to more than 30 light-years. That's more than 150 trillion miles away. Presumably, Superman's exceptional vision would allow him to see the Sun from a point orders of magnitude more distant. And the Earth? Human vision has the ability to see it from a distance of approximately 9 billion miles, which is more than 3x the orbit of Neptune. Again, we can surmise that Superman's far superior vision would allow him to see the Earth from far greater distances. So all he would have to do is get within the general vicinity of the Sun and all the major planets would be visibly obvious to him. They surely look markedly different than stars to a being with vision so vastly superior to those of us mere humans.
The reality is that triangulating by known celestial objects - stars, yes, but nebulae as well, not to mention galaxies (Andromeda, the Magellanic Clouds, etc.), clusters, supernova remnants - just to name a few visible to the naked eye - would allow for pinpointing precisely where one is relative to any point in the galaxy. But speaking now of sci-fi (as you go on to do) there would be no need for a navigational system to limit itself to naked-eye objects. Pulsars would be an excellent source. There are thousands in our galaxy, and each one has a unique radio signature. There are the three Galactic Center Radio Transients in the Milly Way's core, as well as roughly a billion neutron stars in our galaxy. These are all strong radio emitters. Detecting any three of these known objects would allow for prompt pinpointing of one's location in the galaxy relative to all three axes.
I'm not sure why someone who accepts the premise of Superman (and without acceptance of that premise, this discussion is moot), which features such things as being bulletproof, the ability to project heat from his eyes, and the ability to fly, among many others, goes on to quibble about Superman inevitably getting 'lost in space'. It's weird.
Besides that? It's wrong.
The Sun isn't just visible for 'billions of miles'. Our star has an absolute magnitude of 4.83, and so would be visible to human eyes out to more than 30 light-years. That's more than 150 trillion miles away. Presumably, Superman's exceptional vision would allow him to see the Sun from a point orders of magnitude more distant. And the Earth? Human vision has the ability to see it from a distance of approximately 9 billion miles, which is more than 3x the orbit of Neptune. Again, we can surmise that Superman's far superior vision would allow him to see the Earth from far greater distances. So all he would have to do is get within the general vicinity of the Sun and all the major planets would be visibly obvious to him. They surely look markedly different than stars to a being with vision so vastly superior to those of us mere humans.
The reality is that triangulating by known celestial objects - stars, yes, but nebulae as well, not to mention galaxies (Andromeda, the Magellanic Clouds, etc.), clusters, supernova remnants - just to name a few visible to the naked eye - would allow for pinpointing precisely where one is relative to any point in the galaxy. But speaking now of sci-fi (as you go on to do) there would be no need for a navigational system to limit itself to naked-eye objects. Pulsars would be an excellent source. There are thousands in our galaxy, and each one has a unique radio signature. There are the three Galactic Center Radio Transients in the Milly Way's core, as well as roughly a billion neutron stars in our galaxy. These are all strong radio emitters. Detecting any three of these known objects would allow for prompt pinpointing of one's location in the galaxy relative to all three axes.
Superman is a common trope, often depicted as flying into deep space, even to other star systems, so I wanted to discuss how a real life super-powered individual could credibly navigate.
Your example of Pulsars has been cited as a way to triangulate one's position. Of course, now we are well into computer and radio receiver territory, so Superman is sunk, unless he hauls along a ton of gear (and a means of powering it).
His telescopic vision probably won't help since he won't know what direction to look. I mean, he can see the Sun from pretty far out, and I guess he can fly in that direction, but even just figuring out the plane of the solar system is going to be tricky. The planets aren't easily discernible from great distances. Maybe he (or "she", if it's Supergirl) could just float in one spot and watch until he notices one dot moving faster than the stars, then could zoom toward it and get somewhat oriented. Even then, the plane will not be clear; he'd have to wait to find a second planet.
It should be possible to get within the right distance by approaching the Sun until it's a half degree wide -- half the width of your pinkie finger at arm's length. He can spot the northern polar constellations to get oriented correctly, then circle the Sun at the same distance. Eventually he'll get to the Earth.
If you're willing to accept the concept of someone who can break all kinds of physical laws, it's not much of a stretch to imagine his super-powers including "Never gets lost". If you wonder how that can work, add it to the list of all the other things he does that we poor mortals can't understand.
A real-life Superman would be dead in space extremely quickly if he didn't have a suit to protect him from extreme cold and heat, no oxygen, and the intense effects of radiation and the vacuum of space. Space is an extremely harsh and dangerous environment.
Last edited by Thoreau424; 02-20-2023 at 12:31 PM..
Jeez, give the guy a break. He's wanting to have a fun discussion.
But Superman, my most hated super hero of all time, is the absilute wrong example here.
"Vision: In addition to X-ray vision and heat vision, Superman was also given telescopic and microscopic vision. The character could see across interstellar distances and observe events that occurred on a microscopic and even atomic level. He could also see across the full electromagnetic spectrum, including infra-red and ultraviolet light."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoreau424
A real-life Superman would be dead in space extremely quickly if he didn't have a suit to protect him from extreme cold and heat, no oxygen, and the intense effects of radiation and the vacuum of space. Space is an extremely harsh and dangerous environment.
Superman does not need a suit.
"Superman's speed increased to the point where he could travel faster than light. Several stories depict him traversing great distances through space to other solar systems and distant galaxies and even other universes. He could cross our own solar system in minutes.
By the 1970s, Superman became able to withstand an atomic explosion and even fly through the core of a star.
He could also hold his breath indefinitely, allowing him to travel underwater or in space without breathing apparatus."
Jeez, give the guy a break. He's wanting to have a fun discussion.
Superman does not need a suit.
"Superman's speed increased to the point where he could travel faster than light. Several stories depict him traversing great distances through space to other solar systems and distant galaxies and even other universes. He could cross our own solar system in minutes.
By the 1970s, Superman became able to withstand an atomic explosion and even fly through the core of a star.
He could also hold his breath indefinitely, allowing him to travel underwater or in space without breathing apparatus."
Then this isn't a science-based thread, and it was posted in the wrong area of the forum.
What's next, a discussion of Barney's relationship to other dinosaurs?
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