The Problem With AVATAR's Pandora that the Films Don't Want to Touch

If you have unobtanium, sure. The problem with unobtainum is that as soon as you get some, it becomes obtainedit.

If astronomers confirm that there is a gas giant orbiting Alpha Centauri, I hope they name it Polyphemus.

I lived in Alaska for 23 years, and one of the best auroras I've ever witnessed had green, blue, violet, red, and white in it. And it really danced (meaning it moved and jumped around quickly. Some auroras just slowly drift by.) We even caught this on camera. Absolutely breathtaking.

Cameron has already revealed the main antagonist of the next film will be a fire tribe of na'vi similar to how there were water tribes in the latest film. If Pandora is tidally locked I'm fascinated by a possibility that there could be a "twilight" tribe that lives in this eternal darkness. A cinematic challenge no doubt

There isn't enough surface area on the top of the floating mountains to collect enough rain to feed the waterfalls.

In China, Avatar 2 was surpassed by a local Chinese sci-fi epic called The Wandering Earth 2. I find it quite curious that both films deal with Alpha Centauri as the main target for human survival, and reflect on the limits of today's technology.

I could watch hours of just fictional documentaries set on pandora. The human conflict is something i oersonally would cut in favor of telling Navi Stories.

If Pandora had a very short orbital period around Polyphemus, then it would be deep in the radiation belt. Better if it's more like Callisto's distance from Jupiter. But what sci-fi maker can resist close-ups of a gas giant? Cameron deserves a medal for restraint in not giving Polyphemus unrealistic rings. I think of the floating mountains like the giant wave in Interstellar - a scientifically implausible liberty taken because it's awesome in a movie that otherwise tries to ground itself in the possible. Ditto the giant tree.

Now that I've watched the whole video, I'm glad you touched on the aurora. That would be an indicator that Pandora has a magnetic field. Given that it is rich in superconducting minerals, this would only serve to enhance the magnetosphere of the planet. It makes sense that it would have one powerful enough to protect from the radiation belt.

These avatar movies are different than just normal movies imo, they are more an experience and an escape from everything and i absolutely love them, especially at the cinema. Can't wait for the future avatar movies.

I really love the point you brought up about tribes on one side not even knowing they orbit a gas giant.

Based on the changing position of Polyhemus in the sky during both movies, Pandora is not tidaly locked. Sometimes we see it high in the sky, sometimes just touching the horizon, and a few times intersecting it.

Next tackle How Realistic Is the World of Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin

I'm a sucker for speculative biology so Pandora's ecosystem with the lands and creatures is what hooked me in the first place.

I would like to see the science of a plant based neural link to animals and restoring consciousness via its connections too. Supposedly there was an intense battle scene he cut from the movie because of current world events and violence but I bet it was stellar, hope its in the extended cut.

I love Avatar but had no idea it was based in the Alpha star system. Thats awesome

I've wondered about the factor of the Roche limit. A body of given size/density, if located within the Roche limit of the parent body it orbits, will be torn apart by tidal stress. This is the cause of Saturn's ring system. Visually it seems possible that Pandora might be too close to remain intact.

I would love a video about The Expanse. Imho it is a very possible future - at least the technology and the story of colonizing on mars and the belt.

One interesting issue regarding a tidally locked moon (which would be almost all moons in most star systems) would be that there would be a higher prevalence of the night and twilight compared to light day. This is not necessarily a bad thing, on the contrary: The gas giant would shelter and act as a shield, diminishing the amount of harmful radiation that could reach from the star. Also, as the star development during millions of years increases the amount of radiation and heat, the moon would be able to adapt much easily than a planet to such changing conditions, thus protecting life.

I'm just a major fan of anything bioluminescence, which made me fall in love with the world of Pandora very quickly . I just wonder how likely it is for planets dominated with bioluminescent life to exist out there.