Meredith Kingston

Trina VanAusdal

Physics 1040

7/21/2017

Interstellar Critique

Black holes and anything that is still very uncertain in our understanding that pertains to

space is an absolute favorite of mine to research. Here is a google definition of a black hole: a

region of space having a gravitational field so intense that no matter or radiation can escape.

There is also, according to our current knowledge, a black hole at the center of every galaxy.

(Why haven't galaxies been consumed by their black holes?, 2015) Think about these two

thoughts as we move on.

When the movie Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan, came out in 2014 I had to

see it through the whole two hours and forty-nine minutes. This wasnt just a movie based on

amateur space predictions. One of Nolans executive producers and advisors was Kip Thorne, an

American Theoretical physicist, known for his contributions in gravitation physics and

astrophysics and hes an expert on black holes. (Wikipedia, 2017)

During the film, the characters encounter worm holes, black holes, and land on alien

planets. They even land on a planet just like earth in search of a new home. A sum of the movie

is that the earth is running out of food and oxygen and NASA is trying to find another planet for

us humans. They know that most humans will die before they even have the time for get to the

new planet. The main character is sent on a mission in which they encounter worm holes and

experience time warps, they encounter black holes and experience five dimensions. He sees
through the dimensions to earth and tries to tell his daughter whats happened. The main

characters daughter all the while is figuring out all the things that her dad is trying to tell her

through the black hole. She doesnt know its him, or how, but she uses what he tells her to

figure everything out. Somehow the main character is found after falling into the black hole

and he goes to rescue the other crew member who was sent to another planet. In the ending all

ends well.

The first scientific principle that I want to assess is the wormhole. In Interstellar, the

characters used a wormhole to travel through space and time. They needed to get from one

side of the universe to the other in a shorter amount of time and they used a wormhole. There

is not sufficient evidence right now to show that wormholes actually exist, but it is a very hot

theory. Space.com mentions that according to Einsteins theory of general relativity, they are

possible, but no sign of them has ever been spotted. Kip Thorne himself said, Wormholes if

you dont have something threading through them to hold them open the walls will basically

collapse so fast that nothing can go through them, According to science.com, Holding

wormholes open would require the insertion of something that anti-gravitates namely,

negative energy. Negative energy has been created in the lab via quantum effects, One region

of space borrows energy from another region that didnt have any to begin with, creating a

deficit, Thorne clarifies the process of creating anti-matter. Also, Furthermore, traversable

wormholes if they can exist at all almost certainly cannot occur naturally. That is, they must

be created by an advanced civilization. (Mike WAll, 2014) I know that was a lot of quotes, but I

didnt know how else to explain it in an understandable way with the same credibility. I wanted

you to know that a wormhole cannot be created naturally and if created, would need some
outside support to hold it up. These ideas support what happened in the movie as the

characters called the creators of the wormhole they . Now based on the evidence from

renowned physicists and many others and also my previous opinion, I still view wormholes as

mostly a fantasy. Evidence does show that they would not be able to stay in formation on their

own. I do believe that maybe in the future with incredibly intelligent human beings and yes

divine interference; a wormhole could be created if for the right purposes. I think that the

portrayal or the wormhole in the movie interstellar was very accurate on how it would be if it

could stay in formation.

The second scientific principle that I want to address is time dilation. This has always

been a fascinating topic for me. In Interstellar, one hour on Millers planet equaled seven years

on Earth. Time on our side of the wormhole moved faster than time on the side with Millers

planet. (Mukherjee, 2016) I have not been able to understand the time dilation equation yet,

but would like to someday. There were three planets that the astronauts in Interstellar had

traveled to. All were on the other side of the wormhole, but only one with as such severe time

dilation. This brings us into our third scientific principle. Ill have to kind of bring my ideas

together on both of them after I conclude the research on the third.

The third scientific principle: Black Holes my personal favorite. The black hole was

represented perfectly in this movie. It showed a supermassive black hole with an accretion disk

that had the temperature of the sun. The image showed the accretion disk being warped by

gravitational lensing to show to accretion disks: one looping over the black hole and one under

it. (Mike Wall, 2014) The astronauts needed to get very, very close to this supermassive black
hole and landed on Millers planet, which was a water planet. This is the planet that had such

severe time dilation, where every hour on this planet equaled seven years on earth. If the time

dilation were that extreme, it must have been much too close to the black hole for someone to

even physically land on it or even get in any close proximity. Also, it seems that even a planet

should not be able to be that close to such a massive black hole, because of the accretion disk.

A statement from space.com also references another editor, Trotta, from the British newspaper

The Guardian, that said that theyd be spaghettified by the intense gravitational pull, which

would be much stronger at one end of their bodies than the other. That was one theory that I

find hard to digest, but it is out there. It just doesnt seem realistic that a planet could be that

close to that massive of a black hole. The numbers dont add up. The planet wouldve had to

have been next to the Schwarzschild radius for anyone that hasnt taken astronomy-thats the

event horizon. The point beyond which nothing can be seen or return. And like I said earlier,

how would they possibly land on it? It doesnt seem logical that they would be able to get that

close to the accretion disk, survive the radiation, or the gravitational force. For me, I would like

to know what is beyond the horizon point. I know we cant send probes and get data back, but

if we were somehow able to calculate the dimensions beyond the Schwarzschild radius, that

would be amazing.

Overall, I thought Interstellar was amazing. I think that the visual predictions of

wormholes and black holes were the most accurate yet. I disagree on a planet being that close

to a supermassive black hole and therefore I am unsure of such severe time dilation. All in all,

though it has intrigued me greatly, and I plan to read Thornes book called the Science of

Interstellar. I am always interested to learn more on these topics.

Works Cited
ItsAllViral. (2015, March 10). Science Behind The Movie Interstellar (Time Dilation). Retrieved July 21,
2017, from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orx0H9mBeXk

Mike Wall. (2014, November 24). 'Interstellar' Science: Is Wormhole Travel Possible? Retrieved July 21,
2017, from Space: https://www.space.com/27845-interstellar-movie-wormhole-travel-
feasibility.html

Mike WAll. (2014, November 10). The Science of 'Interstellar': Black Holes, Wormholes and Space Travel.
Retrieved July 21, 2017, from Space.com: https://www.space.com/27701-interstellar-movie-
science-black-holes.html

Mukherjee, S. (2016, January 19). What is an explanation for time dilation on Miller's planet in
Interstellar? Retrieved July 22, 2017, from Quora: https://www.quora.com/What-is-an-
explanation-for-time-dilation-on-Millers-planet-in-Interstellar

Why haven't galaxies been consumed by their black holes? (2015, March 14). Retrieved July 21, 2017,
from Astroquizzical: https://astroquizzical.com/astroquizzical/if-there-is-a-black-hole-at-the-
center-of-every

Wikipedia. (2017, July 16). Kip Thorne. Retrieved July 21, 2017, from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kip_Thorne