It was only years later that I realized that most people interpreted the time travel sequence in the first Superman movie as Superman spinning the Earth backwards on its axis to reverse the course of time.
If that was the intent of the movie makers, that sucks. And it makes no sense at all.
Stopping the Earth would have the Coriolis effect create 1000 mph winds across the face of the planet. Picture this...the Earth stops but the entire fluid atmosphere would continue rotating just like always. 1000 mph is a rough estimate using the Earth's rotational speed which is pretty obvious when you think 24 hours for a rotation of a 25000 mile circumference spheroid.
When I saw the movie, I was thinking of a slingshot effect time warp as seen several times in Star Trek, sending Superman into the past and not the Earth.
Basically, Superman puts himself into a high speed orbit and attains relatavistic speed and shears away at a tangent. This places him at faster than relativistic speed. Since you cannot go faster than the speed of light, time begins to flow backwards. Think of it as climbing a mountain. Climbing upwards is equal to going forward in time. But once you cross the peak of the mountain, or its relativistic peak, you begin climbing down, whch is backwards in time. the visual of seeing the Earth stop spinning and then rotate backwards was a visual interpretation of the time travel.
That was how I always saw it anyway.
If that was the intent of the movie makers, that sucks. And it makes no sense at all.
Stopping the Earth would have the Coriolis effect create 1000 mph winds across the face of the planet. Picture this...the Earth stops but the entire fluid atmosphere would continue rotating just like always. 1000 mph is a rough estimate using the Earth's rotational speed which is pretty obvious when you think 24 hours for a rotation of a 25000 mile circumference spheroid.
When I saw the movie, I was thinking of a slingshot effect time warp as seen several times in Star Trek, sending Superman into the past and not the Earth.
Basically, Superman puts himself into a high speed orbit and attains relatavistic speed and shears away at a tangent. This places him at faster than relativistic speed. Since you cannot go faster than the speed of light, time begins to flow backwards. Think of it as climbing a mountain. Climbing upwards is equal to going forward in time. But once you cross the peak of the mountain, or its relativistic peak, you begin climbing down, whch is backwards in time. the visual of seeing the Earth stop spinning and then rotate backwards was a visual interpretation of the time travel.
That was how I always saw it anyway.
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