close encounter with a passing astronomical object theme
An astronomical object comes into close proximity with a populated planet and poses a threat to continued civilization.
Examples
The genetically engineered colonist utopia on Moab IV was threatened by a stray stellar core fragment from a collapsed neutron star in tng5x13 "The Masterpiece Society". A worldwide catastrophe when an errant comet passes by Earth and causes natural disasters and social unrest in The End of The World (1916).
10 total · 9 major · 1 minor
| Story | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| movie: A Fire in the Sky (1978) | major | Astronomer Jennifer Dreiser identified a comet passing by Jupiter that was projected to hit Arizona in eight days time. It was big enough to take out Phoenix. |
| movie: Battle of the Worlds (1961) | major | A team of scientists discover a rogue planet from another galaxy, dubbed the "The Outsider", has entered the solar system will collide with Earth. |
| movie: Crash of Moons (1954) | major | A moon was on a collision course with the planet Ophiuchus and the United Worlds helped the inhabitants evacuate. |
| movie: Gorath (1962) | major | The runaway star Gorath was on a course to collide with Earth. |
| movie: The End of the World (1916) | major | An errant comet passes by Earth and causes natural disasters. |
| movie: The End of the World (1931) | major | An errant comet passes by Earth and causes natural disasters. |
| movie: Warning from Space (1956) | major | A nuclear device is created to destroy a rogue planet that was on a collision course approaching with Earth. |
| movie: When Worlds Collide (1951) | major | A rogue star called Bellus triggers a desperate effort to build a space ark to transport a group of men and women to Bellus' single planet, Zyra. |
| tng5x13 | major | stellar core fragment |
| movie: The Man from Planet X (1951) | minor | It was feared the approach of Planet X to Earth would cause natural catastrophes. |