2012 Comic Book News Archives

December 4, 2012: Neil deGrasse Tyson Talks About Locating Krypton

Action Comics #14 In November DC Comics announced that Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson had helped them find the exact location where the planet Krypton would have existed for issue #14 of "Action Comics". On Monday, NPR.org's Morning Edition, Tyson spoke about the story of how he came to lend a hand to Superman.

    The story, of course, is somewhat emotional for poor Superman, who already knows what's coming (he has perhaps the ultimate spoiler alert) but can only watch helplessly, given that ... well, it happened 27 years ago.

    Would it really be possible to see the misery so far away? Tyson says the answer is ... sort of. There's a method that can be used to make multiple telescopes work together to form an interferometer - a super-powerful device that, in the comic, is so big that it "turn[s] the entire Earth into one coherent telescope." Of course, that requires Superman to muster the power of all the telescopes on Earth and get them working together, which Tyson admits in real life would be a teensy bit difficult.

    It's still difficult, of course, to be the guy who has to watch home disappear. Greene naturally asks whether Tyson gave Superman a nice hug. "It was a huggable moment. Maybe the next panel would have had me hugging him," Tyson says.

    It's hard work being an astrophysicist, but in this case, Tyson says he was happy to "assist Superman in his time of need." Superman, of course, is special. "I would not have done it for Aquaman."

Listen to NPR's interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Thanks to John Robison for the link to this interview.



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