Tyson, the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History and a generally awesome human, has a cameo in Action Comics No. 14, out Wednesday. In the comic, he helps Superman find Krypton on its final day in the universe. In order to get that location, and because he’s (again) awesome, Tyson and a team of scientists actually located a planet with Krypton-like characteristics. You can see how they did it in the video above.
“As a native of Metropolis, I was delighted to help Superman, who has done so much for my city over all these years,” the Manhattan-born Tyson said in a statement.
Superman’s home planet actually orbits a red dwarf star called LHS 2520 and located in the constellation Corvus — 27.1 light-years from Earth. The Krypton-supporting star found for the “Star Light, Star Bright” issue of Action Comics has a highly turbulent surface and is cooler and smaller than the sun.
“Having Neil deGrasse Tyson in the book was one thing, but by applying real-world science to this story, he has forever changed Superman’s place in history,” DC Entertainment co-publisher Dan DiDio said in a statement. “Now fans will be able to look up at the night’s sky and say, ‘That’s where Superman was born.'”
Those coordinates, if you want to look for yourself, are:
J2000 Right ascension: 12 hours 10 minutes 5.77 seconds Declination: -15 degrees 4 minutes 17.9 seconds Proper motion: 0.76 arcseconds per year, along 172.94 degrees from due north
Action Comics No. 14 is available now.
