Neil deGrasse Tyson ‘locates’ Kal-El’s home planet!

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Luckily for Superman, he won't have to rely on Apple Maps to find his home planet of Krypton. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has determined its location 27.1 light-years from Earth, in the southern constellation Corvus. The planet orbits red dwarf star LHS 2520.

DC Comics made the request of Tyson for a new comic book about Superman's search for Krypton -- Action Comics Superman #14 "Star Light, Star Bright" -- which comes out Wednesday (Nov. 7).

Part of Tyson's reward for finding Krypton is appearing in the book, helping out the caped superhero in his search.

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

For those unaware of Superman's origins, he was born on Krypton, but his father, Jor-El, launched him toward Earth just before the planet's destruction. Superman landed in Kansas, where he was raised as Clark Kent.

"This is a major milestone in the Superman mythos that gives our super hero a place in the universe," DC Entertainment co-publisher Dan DiDio says in a statement. "Having Neil deGrasse Tyson in the book was one thing, but by applying real-world science to this story he has forever changed Superman's place in history. Now fans will be able to look up at the night's sky and say, 'That's where Superman was born.'"

Habitability

Planetary habitability of red dwarf star systems is subject to some debate. In spite of their great numbers and long lifespans, there are several factors which may make life difficult on planets around a red dwarf star. First, planets in the habitable zone of a red dwarf would be so close to the parent star that they would likely be tidally locked. This would mean that one side would be in perpetual daylight and the other in eternal night. This could create enormous temperature variations from one side of the planet to the other. Such conditions would appear to make it difficult for forms of life similar to those on Earth to evolve. And it appears there is a great problem with the atmosphere of such tidally locked planets: the perpetual night zone would be cold enough to freeze the main gases of their atmospheres, leaving the daylight zone nude and dry. On the other hand, recent theories propose that either a thick atmosphere or planetary ocean could potentially circulate heat around such a planet, or life could survive by migration. Alternatively, a moon in orbit around a gas giant planet may be habitable. It would circumvent the tidal lock problem by becoming tidally locked to its planet. This way there would be a day/night cycle as the moon orbited its primary, and there would be distribution of heat.

In addition, red dwarfs emit most of their radiation as infrared light, while on Earth plants use energy mostly in the visible spectrum. Red dwarfs emit almost no ultraviolet light, which would be a problem, should this kind of light be required for life to exist. Variability in stellar energy output may also have negative impacts on development of life. Red dwarfs are often covered by starspots, reducing stellar output by as much as 40% for months at a time. At other times, some red dwarfs, called flare stars, can emit gigantic flares, doubling their brightness in minutes. This variability may also make it difficult for life to develop and persist near a red dwarf star...

On Monday's Morning Edition, Hayden Planetarium director and pop-culture go-to science guy Neil deGrasse Tyson tells NPR's David Greene the story of how he came to lend a hand to Superman.

DC Comics, Tyson explains, approached him for permission to use the Planetarium — as well as his likeness — in a story where Superman witnesses the destruction of Krypton, since the light from the distant planet is just now arriving on Earth. Tyson told DC Comics that he was happy to help, and that instead of just making up the story of Superman seeing Krypton, he could help them ground it in at least some actual science.



OK, so here's how Tyson explains it: Superman didn't age during his trip to Earth, because he was still an infant upon arrival, meaning he must have traveled here through a wormhole with his little ship. If he's in his late 20s now (the estimate DC provided) and this is the time when he can witness the explosion of his home planet, then the planet is 27 or so light years away.

While it's impossible to see planets that far away, you can see stars, so Tyson picked out a real, existing, actual red star — its name is LHS 2520, if you would like to send it a congratulatory note — to serve as the star around which Krypton orbits.

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.