History Main / ArtisticLicenseSpace

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Galaxy's Child", [[TheEngineer Geordi LaForge]] mentions ''everything'' in the Universe vibrates in a 21 cm radiation band. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_line The change in quantum spin of the electron in single hydrogen atoms]] is the main source of these radio emissions, and ''not'' everything in the Universe does that[[note]]The cosmic microwave background, to begin with[[/note]].
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "I Shot an Arrow into the Air". After launching from Earth, a space ship goes off course and ends up on the surface of an unknown celestial object. Even though the object has Earth standard gravity and a breathable atmosphere and the Sun appears to be the same size in the sky as it is on Earth, the astronauts somehow conclude that they've landed on an asteroid. This is impossible, and the astronauts should have known it: in order for the object to be an asteroid, it would have to be the size of the Earth, and it certainly would have been already seen by astronomers. Not surprisingly, the KarmicTwistEnding of the episode is that the astronauts have in fact [[spoiler: landed back on Earth]].

[[AC:Fanfiction]]

* Literature/AndrewDoran: Callisto almost certainly doesn't have a race of sentient insects ready to invade Earth but it fits perfectly with the book's pulpy roots.

[[quoteright:346:[[https://www.deviantart.com/rmirandinha/art/DM-Astral-Projection-Collab-128866750 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/planets_stars_asteroids_140_8170.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:346: Because... you know... [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall space is grape-flavored]].]]

* ArbitraryMaximumRange: When projectiles mysteriously cease to exist upon reaching a certain distance.

* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' storyline ''ComicBook/TheSuperRevengeOfLexLuthor'' first refers to the outer space celestial body where Luthor has been imprisoned as an asteroid, even though asteroids drift around the inner Solar System, and are too small to have an atmosphere (let alone the complex plant lifeforms seen in the background). The following panels show the writer is using the words "asteroid" and "planet" interchangeably.

Can't figure out where to put your astronomy related example? Leave it here. When we get enough like it, a new trope will begin to form. Kind of like a solar system, if you think about it.\\

* For decades, ever since science fiction began to depict interstellar empires, the convention, seemingly embraced across all media, has been to designate a planet by its star, followed by a Roman numeral indicating its position in its system. So the fourth planet from Altair would be called Altair IV, the third planet from Tau Ceti would be called Tau Ceti III and so on. This despite the fact that the convention among astronomers for naming objects in orbit around stars is to use a lower case letter in order of discovery. So the first object found around Alpha Centauri A is called Alpha Centauri Ab, the second Alpha Centauri Ac, the third Alpha Centauri Ad and so on. Despite this convention being in place for almost 30 years now, fiction has had [[RuleOfCool little incentive to adapt]].

* Several works of fiction show amateur astronomers viewing meteor showers through a telescope. In fact, a telescope is the absolute ''worst'' thing to view a meteor shower through, since you need as much sky coverage as possible. The best piece of equipment to view a meteor shower? A lawn chair.

** On the other hand, the iconic shot in ''Film/ANewHope'' where Luke looks wistfully into the sunset is done by compositing a shot of a setting sun next to one of a visibly ''rising'' sun. This ought to mean Tatooine is stuck roughly at the barycenter ''between'' the two stars and would have no night at all, just daylight and twilight. Besides the fact Tatooine clearly ''does'' have a night in the same film, this explanation was rendered canonically impossible with the EstablishingShot of the Tatoo System in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'': Tatooine clearly orbits outside the binary pair. (Could they not have just played the clip representing Whitesun ''backwards''?)

** On the other hand, the iconic shot in ''Film/ANewHope'' where Luke looks wistfully into the sunset is done by compositing a shot of a setting sun next to one of a visibly ''rising'' sun. This ought to mean Tatooine is stuck roughly at the barycenter ''between'' the two stars and would have no night at all, just daylight and twilight. This explanation was rendered canonically impossible with the EstablishingShot of the Tatoo System in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'': Tatooine clearly orbits outside the binary pair. (Could they not have just played the clip representing Whitesun ''backwards''?)

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czQAHdRul-Y This]] WebVideo/DoorMonster video plays it for laughs. Using a completely normal telescope, they view, among other things, a meteor, an alternate universe, France and an Independence Day rerun. The thing also apparently has five septillion optical zoom.

-->-- ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons The Simpsons]]'', ''[[ShowWithinAShow The Planet from Outer Space]]''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': At the end of season 2, a setting crescent moon is shown opposite a rising sun. In reality, opposite a rising sun would be a full moon. Arguably an example of [[WritersCannotDoMath Writers Cannot Do Science]] since the shape of the moon here is not relevant to the plot and a full moon would suffice.

** An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheImpossibles'' featured the same. Creator/HannaBarbera didn't seem too worried about accuracy in the 60s.

** And let's not forget the countless stories described in the pre-space exploration era where Venus was described as a [[VenusIsWet lush and humid planet with even dinosaurs]] instead of the [[DeathWorld hellish]], bone-dry, world we know it to be and a Mars that even if it's usually described as a desert [[OnceGreenMars at least had life up to a Martian civilization]].

* In ''Film/{{Gravity}}'', the FlechetteStorm resulting from [[spoiler:the destruction of the shuttle and the Hubble being hit by satellite remains]] is told to be moving so fast that it would orbit the Earth and come back to hit the main characters in 90 minutes. The problem? If the debris was indeed moving that much faster than the astronauts at the same elevation, it would break orbit and shoot off into space or, at least, move in a different orbit and, thus, be harmless to them. That's not even bringing up the fact that they have somehow caught up to the ISS which is moving in a completely different orbit from the Hubble (which is where they are) without much effort.
** The ISS does orbit the Earth every 90 minutes, which is probably where they got that from.

* In ''Film/HighlanderTheSource'', the '''galaxy''' suffers a major case of WhenThePlanetsAlign. One character offhandedly dismisses the phenomenon, suggesting "that could just be orbital wobble." To be fair, the film immediately says "No it isn't [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barycentric_coordinates_%28astronomy%29 'orbital wobble']], this is clearly magic related to the Immortals."

* Several works of fiction show amateur astronomers viewing meteor showers through a telescope. In fact, a telescope is the absolute ''worst'' thing to view a meteor shower through, since you need as much sky coverage as possible. The best piece of equipment to view a meteor shower? A lawn chair. Subverted (intentionally or not) in an episode of ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'', in which a group of nerds attempt to view a meteor shower through a telescope, only to have their fun ruined by Malcolm and his brothers throwing food at them. They eventually get their own back, and knock Malcolm and his brothers onto their backs, where they then view the meteors.