Miller's Planet
possible? yes. realistic? well...
Miller's Planet
- The planet was named for the scientist, Dr. Miller, who landed there in the first set of expeditions to the new galaxy.
- Because of its position in the fictional system, Miller's Planet has some captivating characteristics, the two biggest being the passing of time and the massive tidal waves.
Gravitational Time Dilation
Did you hear it? The ticks that pass every second in the clip? Rewatch the first few seconds and listen closely. Every tick represents a day that passes on Earth.
That is one of the biggest pieces of Miller's Planet: how time passes. A single hour on the planet is equal to seven years on earth which means time flows sixty thousand times slower than on earth.
Gravitational time dilation states that the stronger the gravitational potential, the slower time passes.
Inspired by director Christopher Nolan's desired ratio, Kip Thorne thought of a theory to make this time change scientifically sound. Thorne makes Gargantua spin at unlikely, but still possible, speeds which increases the gravitational potential on Miller’s Planet.
We notice in the movie that the gravity on Miller's planet is slightly more than the Earth's. That is because the spin of the planet itself is almost equal to its rotation around the black hole so it does not tear apart the planet or greatly disturb its gravity.
Don't quite get the science behind it? Watch the twins to the right!
Tidal Waves
The top photo is a theoretically image of Gargantua from Miller's Planet. The bottom two are snapshots from the movie's representation of the tsunami waves.
Miller's Planet rocking left and right
- Although the waves seem completely ridiculous, they are scientifically possible. The tidal gravity on the planet creates tidal forces so strong that they deform the planet so that it turns into an egg shape with the long ends facing toward and away from Gargantua
- A natural rocking of the egg shaped planet causes the waves to come. This rocking is pretty small as any larger would crush the planet.
Do you get the meme?
Is it all possible?
Well, yes.
Theoretically, with perfect conditions, the planet's existence is scientifically possible. The time dilation and massive waves are supported through science. And really it could exist since we believe that the universe contains an unfathomable amount of planets located in different galaxies and star systems.
A better question might be, will we ever find a planet like it? No, probably not and for the same reason it might exist.
