MichaelPorter, 1 month ago

Just watched the Netflix adaptation of 3 Body Problem. Decent attempt, although it felt like they went through the game and revealed the “three-body” mystery a little fast (or did I just binge too fast? 🤔).

I really wish SF shows would get the incredibly easy basics right, though.

In the first episode, two people are looking at the stars from a location somewhere in England (University of Oxford campus?). Something very strange happens with the stars, but before that happens, something even stranger is going on. The stars in the sky depicted show the entire constellation of Scorpius, which is not possible in the British Isles. If you were at the southernmost tip of England, the circled star would just peek above the southern horizon. To see the stars as depicted, you would have to be much farther south (say, at the latitude of a CGI firm in Los Angeles? 😉).

I imagine most people wouldn't notice, but if you are at all familiar with the sky, these things jump out at you. It would be like the prop people not knowing who to put on the dollar bill and just going with Mr. Bean.

#3BodyProblem #Astronomy #CGI

A scene from “3 Body Problem” - It is night, and the sky shows the Milky Way, and the entire constellation of Scorpius (and other partial constellations). The constellation is highlighted with red lines, and the middle star is circled in red (to indicate the bottommost star visible from England). In the foreground are some older buildings, reminiscent of an old university quad.
An American 1-dollar bill, with the face of Rowan Atkinson in place of George Washington.