Accuracy of the exploding asteroids in The Empire Strikes Back movie

[marsh8472]

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/2489/asteroidtiming.jpg

Here is a scene of a star destroyer firing on an asteroid. The entire explosion takes about 10 frames of video -- less than a third of a second. It's widely believed that the asteroid in question is about 40 meters in diameter and made of nickel-iron. It's also widely believed that this asteroid was vaporized. I'm curious about the scientific accuracy of the explosion. Do you think the asteroid was really vaporized? If so, would the vapor disperse in less than a third of a second like this? I've heard the opinion of one person who claims to be a physics expert and says the gas dispersion is accurate but I have serious doubts about that myself.

 

[marsh8472]

no one has any comment? :-o

 

[Vanadium 50]

First, it may take more than 76 minutes for someone to answer your question, especially as it is in the middle of the night in North America.

Second, it's fiction. There are no star destroyers, there is no Yoda, there is no Darth Vader and there is no force. Worrying about whether 0.33s of the movie is scientifically accurate misses the whole point.

 

[CompuChip]

There are no star destroyers, there is no Yoda, there is no Darth Vader and there is no force.

Nooooooooooo! That's nonsense! I mean, it cannot be true, can it?

What's next, you going to tell me Santa Claus does not exist either?

* force chokes Vanadium *

 

[QED-Kasper]

you have to find out what that green stuff is first :D

 

[CompuChip]

In Star Trek, it would be a strongly ionized bundle of theta radiation emitted from the plasma chambers of the warp drive.

In Star Wars, it sort of looks like an inversely polarized antimatter beam.

(Do you think I could write an SF series?)

 

[Vanadium 50]

What's next, you going to tell me Santa Claus does not exist either?

Of course Santa Claus exists. I find your lack of faith...disturbing.

 

[DaveC426913]

All seriousness aside, explosions in space are quite unlike explosions in an atmosphere. There's no fireball, and it doesn't mushroom the way that does.

If you've ever seen a pic of the lunar excursion module blasting off from the Moon's surface for its trip home you can see that it just looks like a bucnh of scintillating particles flying off in straight lines. There's no air back pressue to stop it.