BvS A Critical Question About the Broader Superman Mythos

[DA_Champion]

As you all know, when a Kryptonian is near a yellow Sun, he acquires superpowers, and when he is near a red Sun, he loses superpowers.

What happens when a Kryptonian is near a binary star system which includes both a red star and a yellow star, for example Alpha Centauri?

Artist's rendition here:

 

[Wise]

Hard to say. Maybe he would still be strong, but not as strong.

The way the comics explain it Superman's body is essentially a living solar battery. It drinks in the radiation of our sun and converts it the same way it must have done with Rao. So it's sort of implied that Kryptonian's bodies naturally absorbed and converted the radiation of their red sun for energy. Perhaps they once ate food and drank water for energy in their history, as Kal El having digestive organs suggests this.

The difference is the radiation from the Sun is a much more abundant source of energy for Kal El.

So the question is whether Kal El would be weakened by the presence of a less effective energy source. I'll admit that I don't really have the scientific background to answer the question properly, but I'd guess that no, he would not be de-powered or weakened. I think his body would naturally take in the yellow and red light and simply convert the most naturally effective energy source.

 

[DA_Champion]

One thing that bothered me, in Smallville, the phantom zone is shown to be in orbit around a blue sun. I figured that Superman should be ultra powered in that kind of environment.

 

[Wise]

Either that or his cellular structure would start to break down like in All Star Superman when he got really close to the sun and absorbed too much solar energy that despite becoming much more powerful and immune to kryptonite, his body couldn't convert it and started to break down.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

In one of the old stories he goes to the year 1,000,000 where the red sun is a dying sun
The older the sun is, the more his powers wane
Under Alpha Centauri A he might lose maybe 30% of his powers under a yellow sun
Under Alpha Centauri B he might lose more than 60% of his powers under a yellow sun

It all depends on how the writer take it

 

[DA_Champion]

In one of the old stories he goes to the year 1,000,000 where the red sun is a dying sun
The older the sun is, the more his powers wane
Under Alpha Centauri A he might lose maybe 30% of his powers under a yellow sun
Under Alpha Centauri B he might lose more than 60% of his powers under a yellow sun

It all depends on how the writer take it

FYI Alpha Centauri A is actually the same temperature as the Sun.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

FYI Alpha Centauri A is actually the same temperature as the Sun.

I think he sweats under the red sun
Not sure if the temperature of the sun is what causes him to lose or gain powers

 

[Bren]

In the movie, wasn't it also mentioned by Jor El in the voiceover that our atmosphere is younger/more nourishing. If that's the case, it's not even just about the actual star he's under.

 

[hafizbat]

He's a fictional character, not a true scientific phenomenon. The answer would be whatever suits the story the writer is telling.

 

[Boom]

I'd imagine his power level would be halved.

 

[moviefreak]

In real scenario, the majority of the stars in our universe are of binary types, our single Sun system (or any other single star systems) is not the norm.

As for the effect of a system like Alpha Centauri A and B, I would probably think that Superman's power will be average of several systems. In the case of MOS he would acclimatised to our yellow sun easily than if he had not been exposed to the effect of Alpha Centauri B.

FYI:

http://www.bigapricot.org/other/krypton.shtml

 

[747]

 

[MaskettaMan]

As you all know, when a Kryptonian is near a yellow Sun, he acquires superpowers, and when he is near a red Sun, he loses superpowers.

What happens when a Kryptonian is near a binary star system which includes both a red star and a yellow star, for example Alpha Centauri?

Artist's rendition here:

That is supposed to be a critical question? You need to get out more.

 

[Mightmitenot]

In the Alpha Century case, the red Proxima Centauri is A) rather small and B) kind of far away, Wiki sayeth about 15,000 +/- 700 AU from the binary A&B stars. On Rann it's effects might slightly annoy Superman. He does have to skirt around Proxima to travel to Rann.

 

[DA_Champion]

I think he sweats under the red sun
Not sure if the temperature of the sun is what causes him to lose or gain powers

The temperature of a star is what determines its colour , to 95% accuracy

 

[Bathead]

Perhaps it's a matter of the yellow sun emitting a certain kind of particle/wave that gives Superman his powers that the red sun simply lacks, therefore the red sun doesn't remove his powers it just doesn't fuel them (Supes cold be considered "running on empty" under a red sun). So, I would conclude that he still has all of his powers, which are fueled by the yellow sun, and not being impacted by the red sun at all.
I dunno.