As a few people seem to be interested in the science fact or fiction of this movie; I offer the following.
Planets rotate because of something called the conservation of angular momentum. The moon rotates too, but at just the right speed so that it always keeps one face pointed toward the Earth. It's not a coincidence. Almost all moons in the Solar System keep one face pointed toward their planet, because of a process called tidal friction. Could Earth suddenly slow it's spin so that one side is always aimed at the sun and survive? No. Not so long as the Moon is there. If you could somehow get rid of the Moon and wait long enough (a few hundred thousand years), Earth would eventually always face the sun. All other scenarios would destroy the earth instantly.
Our Sun will not go supernova in a huge explosion, it's not massive enough. Instead, when it's fuel is exhausted it will grow into a Red Giant then to Planetary Nebula to White Dwarf to Black Dwarf. And we'll have a lot more warning than a few months! In fact we know right now when it's going to happen; In 5 billion years! Then the earth will begin to warm as the Sun begins to grow. Over a period of thousands of years the Earth will be swallowed up and destroyed by the Red Giant Sun.
So we have to conclude that the scenario presented in this movie has absolutely no basis in science fact. But beware; it's still a pretty good movie. I knew all of this going in, but I still managed to enjoy it.
Planets rotate because of something called the conservation of angular momentum. The moon rotates too, but at just the right speed so that it always keeps one face pointed toward the Earth. It's not a coincidence. Almost all moons in the Solar System keep one face pointed toward their planet, because of a process called tidal friction. Could Earth suddenly slow it's spin so that one side is always aimed at the sun and survive? No. Not so long as the Moon is there. If you could somehow get rid of the Moon and wait long enough (a few hundred thousand years), Earth would eventually always face the sun. All other scenarios would destroy the earth instantly.
Our Sun will not go supernova in a huge explosion, it's not massive enough. Instead, when it's fuel is exhausted it will grow into a Red Giant then to Planetary Nebula to White Dwarf to Black Dwarf. And we'll have a lot more warning than a few months! In fact we know right now when it's going to happen; In 5 billion years! Then the earth will begin to warm as the Sun begins to grow. Over a period of thousands of years the Earth will be swallowed up and destroyed by the Red Giant Sun.
So we have to conclude that the scenario presented in this movie has absolutely no basis in science fact. But beware; it's still a pretty good movie. I knew all of this going in, but I still managed to enjoy it.