The Scientific Accuracy of Interstellar

In 2014, ‘Interstellar’ graced the screens, starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain. This science fiction blockbuster stood out for its commitment to scientific accuracy, a feat attributed to the film’s executive producer and scientific consultant Kip Thorne – a celebrated astronomer and physicist of Caltech and Princeton (Bartlebaugh, 2014). With the goal of creating a more scientific accurate cinematic representation of theoretical concepts, Thorne’s expertise was used in both the writing of the play as well as the stunning on screen visuals. Despite the extensive scientific foundation for ‘Interstellar’, has more than 10 years of ongoing scientific progress unveiled any flaws in the film’s praised realism?

Einstein-Rosen Bridge (Wormholes)

In the film, Cooper and his team were sent through a wormhole near Saturn, reaching  a system of planets in another galaxy containing potentially habitable worlds. Wormholes are rather accepted within modern cosmology, the theory derived from Einstein’s equations of general relativity. Although there is no physical evidence of the existence of wormholes, the theory of general relativity as well as many mathematical assumptions forecast the presence of wormholes. 

The general idea of a wormhole was explained in the movie where it was demonstrated by folding a piece of paper then punching a pencil through it (Bartlebaugh, 2014). When space-time is viewed as a fabric instead of a void, it is theoretically possible for it to fold in on itself, however to punch the necessary holes in the fabric to create transversable wormholes is more difficult. It is theoretically possible for the wormhole within the film to exist, however the creation of the wormhole should’ve had a more significant impact on its surroundings. It would take a large amount of gravitational energy to create a fold in the space-time continuum and this same gravitational energy would warp the surrounding fabric, which is not shown within the film.  

Time Dilation (Miller’s Planet)

In the film, the group arrives at the first planet called Miller’s planet, its surface covered by oceans. Due to the gravitational pull of the nearby black hole, Miller’s planet is affected by time dilation, 1 hour on Miller’s planet being equivalent to 7 years on earth. Time dilation is a confirmed phenomenon therefore the debate regarding time dilation on Miller’s planet is the time difference vs. the distance from the black hole. Phil Plait, an astronomer and former slate blogger once argued that for Miller’s planet to have a stable order around Gargantua (Black hole), the distance from the event horizon would cause the time to be slowing only about 20% of Earth’s time (Pasch, 2022). However, this issue was addressed in Kip Thorne’s book, The Science of Interstellar, explaining that Gargantua’s rapid rotation would create a centrifugal force allowing Miller’s planet to be extremely close to the event horizon, which would explain the extreme time distortion (Pasch, 2022). 

Black Holes (Visuals)

The visual effects of Gargantua in Interstellar were speculated by Thorne through utilising equations for how a black hole should behave. Despite lacking visualisations beyond theoretical sketches, the depiction of Gargantua in Interstellar greatly resembles real photographs procured by the Event Horizon Telescope in 2019, 5 years after the movie’s release (Thapa, 2023). Instead of merely showcasing two-dimensional holes, Interstellar included the distortions surrounding the black hole and gave it a more spherical look. The large similarity between the movie's prediction for how a black hole would look and photographs taken later on display the scientific accuracy of the film’s visual effects. 

Black holes (Spaghettification) 

Spaghettification is a phenomenon that occurs when an object crosses the event horizon where gravity stretches and vertically compresses objects until it eventually rips. So how did Cooper manage to escape this terrible fate when he entered Gargantua? Given the large size of Gargantua, spaghettification would not have occurred right away. This allows for a small pocket of time for Cooper to enter the Tesseract which would’ve acted as a shield from spaghettification (Thapa, 2023). However, whether it is truly possible for such a “Tesseract” to exist and not only prevent spaghettification and be able to escape black holes still remains a debate. 

Black holes (Communication) 

Black holes are characterised by the inability for anything, including light, to escape it once entering its gravitational field, so how was Cooper able to transmit data from the inside of a black hole? Although this seems like a plothole, Hawking radiation allows for the possibility of this. When a particle falls into a black hole, the falling motion creates a form of negative energy. Due to nature's tendency to remain balanced, this negative would have a corresponding positive, causing the black hole to emit particles which create an outflow of energy.  This energy can be encoded to carry information, similar to how wireless communication works (Bartlebaugh, 2014). Despite this being theoretically possible, it is still a stretch away from radioing Houston from within a black hole. 

Works Cited

Bartlebaugh, J. (2014). Interstellar: a realistic science fiction. [online] The BluePrint. Available at: https://thebablueprint.com/40041/uncategorized/interstellar-a-realistic-science-fiction/ [Accessed 29 Jan. 2025].

Pasch, T. (2022). Interstellar: How it Was One of the Most Scientifically Accurate Sci-Fi Movies Ever. [online] MovieWeb. Available at: https://movieweb.com/interstellar-scientefically-accurate/ [Accessed 29 Jan. 2025].

Thapa, S. (2023). The Science Of Interstellar: How Accurate Is Christopher Nolan’s Movie? [online] ScreenRant. Available at: https://screenrant.com/the-science-of-interstellar-explained-accuracy/ [Accessed 29 Jan. 2025].