Neil deGrasse Tyson on Finding Krypton

During a roundtable discussion with journalists, Hayden Planetarium Director Neil deGrasse Tyson explains how he helped Superman find his home planet of Krypton. Tyson appears as a character in the recent DC Comics' ACTION COMICS #14, "Star Light, Star Bright." In real life, he consulted a star index and found a real star that supported the backstory of the comic.

The red dwarf star designated for having the ability to support a Krypton-like planet is located in the constellation Corvus 27.1 light years from Earth. The star, designated LHS 2520, possesses a red, highly turbulent surface, somewhat cooler and smaller than the Sun. To find it in the night's sky, amateur astronomers and Superman fans can follow these coordinates:

J2000
Right Ascension: 12 hours 10 minutes 5.77 seconds
Declination: -15 degrees 4 minutes 17.9 seconds
Proper Motion: 0.76 arcseconds per year, along 172.94 degrees from due north

Dr. Tyson has a well-documented history applying science to entertainment in order to make the subject accessible and exciting to the public. He is the Director of Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, which since its founding in 1935 has served as the premier conduit between the frontier of cosmic discovery and the public's appreciation of it. Tyson also recently made headlines by getting film director, James Cameron, to alter the night's sky as seen in The Titanic due to inaccuracies. The adjustment was made and can be seen in the re-release of Titanic 3-D.

Tyson noted, "As a native of Metropolis, I was delighted to help Superman, who has done so much for my city over all these years. And it's clear that if he weren't a superhero he would have made quite an astrophysicist."

For more information about ACTION COMICS #14, visit http://www.dccomics.com/

CREDITS:

MUSIC:
"Fat Cats" by Watzmann
http://ccmixter.org/files/Watzmann/38330

IMAGES
AMNH/Brian Abbott
Michelet B.
Iztok Boncina/ESO
Torsten Bronger
DC Comics
NASA

VIDEO
AMNH/J. Bauerle

• Category

  Science & Technology

[A. Grange]

How did he get here before the light from the star? Can't travel faster than light...?

[AMNHorg]

Exactly. The explanation for Superman's existence here and now is that he traveled from Krypton through a wormhole.

[Mephistopheles019]

Neil is the man! The Carl Sagan of our generation!

[abacuschannel1]

The vast majority of comments herein were written by people who know practically nothing about Superman. You must understand that Dr. Tyson was not consulted for any movie; this was for the comic book.

[Kellie Fay]

This makes Astrophysics VERY Cool!

[Trux2010]

I really hope the reboot of Cosmos would have made Sagan proud

[John Pappan]

I don't remember him being clocked for speed. He coulda been going 88mph, for all we know. It worked for the Delorian. =)

[seth m]

That is seriously the least awful part about that movie.

[John Tringali]

Or their own limitation that he couldn't get from one side of the US to the other to catch both missiles, yet he could make it around the planet several times in a second?

[Michael Van Roy]

The bad news: Krypton is the size of Pluto and not really a planet at all.

[Jose Pinto]

if I was the writer I would simply solve the problem by proposing that superman's parents send him to earth a few years before the destruction of the planet. with their technology they already new it was going to be destroy anyways. I don't know it is just an idea. although I am a physicist myself, I would hate to see wormholes in this story. I already have problems accepting superman's ability to fly!