Ridiculous planets

[Polyphase Avatron]

This may seem like a petty or silly nitpick, but I just have to say that the way the franchise often introduces 'planets' that make no sense according to any reasonable interpretation of the laws of physics gets on my nerves sometimes.

Let's start with the minor offenders and work up to the really bad ones.

First off, Planet Vegeta:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

A terrestrial planet with 10 times Earth's gravity is quite implausible in real life, but as its size is never stated this is hardly the craziest thing out there. This one isn't so bad.

North Kaio's planet:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Same gravity as planet Vegeta, but roughly the size of a hill. The density of this thing would be comparable to a white dwarf star, except those are at least the size of the Earth. Still, the density isn't impossible going by real physics, and it's a planet in the Other World so more leeway can be given. Still significantly more implausible than planet Vegeta.

Comet Camori:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

A 'comet' large enough to completely destroy an entire planet. Even hours from impact it is so large it fills up a huge portion of the sky. Obviously no comet in real life can be this large. If anything, it should be called a rogue planet. But if you ignore the 'comet' designation and assume that it's not actually a comet, it's not so bad.

Beerus' Planet:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

If you assume that this thing actually is a planet, then there are tons of problems. Not only is the size ridiculously small, but the shape is obviously wrong. Anything close to the mass of a planet would be pulled into a sphere by its own gravity. This place has Earth standard gravity, but unlike North Kaio's planet the gravity isn't oriented around the center of its mass - it has a clear top and bottom. Even inside of it, the gravity pulls you 'down', not towards the center.

If we don't consider this an actual planet and more of a temple then it makes much more sense, although are still the problems of the many 'moons' orbiting around it. It makes little sense for bodies so small to be such perfect spheres, and if they orbit the temple then it must have strong gravity, but the problems with the gravity were already mentioned. This one doesn't make much sense but, like North Kaio's planet, it is an Other World/godly/supernatural place, so it gets a bit more wiggle room.

Zuno's Planet:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

This one is inexcusable. It's not in Other World or some magical place, it exists in the normal universe, yet it has the same problems with the shape and gravity as Beerus' planet. The only real way to make sense of this is to assume that it is an artificial construct, not a real planet.

And this brings me to what prompted me to make this topic in the first place, the Prison Planet:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Even someone with zero knowledge of astrophysics can easily tell that this thing is ludicrous. But the more you know, the more ludicrous it becomes. I could spend all day listing off the problems here. Literally the only justification for the existence of this thing is that it looks cool (although to me, it looks more silly than cool).

I just wonder how they're eventually going to top this in terms of scientifically impossible planets.

[theherodjl]

Don't forget that the moon in DB is only between 1-2 thousand miles away from the Earth according to the view from Freeza's ship. Or that the sun is depicted as being small enough that Ki blasts sent from Earth are noticeable on its surface. Or that the Tree of Might can grow up into like 300 kilometers above the Earth's surface, and its just fine with much less oxygen as well as greater exposure to elements from outer space. Or that Vegeta's final flash engulfed a section of the Earth, but caused no visible damage to the Earth afterwards.

[arromdee]

The size of the mountains and valleys on a planet depends on the gravty, not the size of the planet. If Kaio's planet is really small, but has Earth-like or even Vegeta-like gravity at the surface, it's not going to be round unless it was deliberately molded that way. Besides, it has trees and a house on it but it doesn't even have mountains and valleys at the same scale as the trees and house, even though trees and houses are also affected by gravity. A planet that size can't hold an atmosphere, either, since it's so small that random movement of molecules at the edges would lead to continuous air loss.

I've also been rewatching early Z and they've at least twice shown a picture of the Earth with a moon, despite the absence of one beiong a plot point.

[SupremeKai25]

I just wonder how they're eventually going to top this in terms of scientifically impossible planets.

Well, How about the guy who became a planet? Is that not worse, scientifically-speaking?

[Alruneia]

Comet Camori:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

A 'comet' large enough to completely destroy an entire planet. Even hours from impact it is so large it fills up a huge portion of the sky. Obviously no comet in real life can be this large. If anything, it should be called a rogue planet. But if you ignore the 'comet' designation and assume that it's not actually a comet, it's not so bad.

This one stuck out to me as well. There is no way "Comet" Camori is an actual comet, it's way too large. New Planet Vegeta's size in comparison (looking at the scene where it's torn apart) to Camori is similar to the difference between a planet and its moon. If New Planet Vegeta is a proper planet (with a size comparable to the minor planets in our solar system), this supposed comet would have to be a gas giant to look like that, wouldn't it? But like you say, you can just call it a rogue planet, and it'll fix everything.

[Polyphase Avatron]

I just wonder how they're eventually going to top this in terms of scientifically impossible planets.

Well, How about the guy who became a planet? Is that not worse, scientifically-speaking?

That's not a property of the planet, though. That's just Zamasu's non-corporeal form appearing as an image.

[PFM18]

It is actually kind of hillarious if you look at it from a scientific perspective. I was legit laughing as I was reading your post lol

[Nineteen]

Am I misremembering, or was there something about Namek beimg as large as a gas giant?

[Polyphase Avatron]

Am I misremembering, or was there something about Namek beimg as large as a gas giant?

I don't believe so. Dodoria said it was a small planet, but then Freeza and King Cold also said the same thing about Earth.