Is the Dibiasky Comet As Shown in ‘Don’t Look Up’ Real Or Fictional?

Dibiasky Comet As Shown in 'Don't Look Up'

The satirical comedy ‘Don’t Look Up,’ written and directed by Adam McKay, revolves around an odd prophecy.

A comet is heading straight for the Earth, according to low-key astronomy teacher Dr. Randall Mindy and his committed pupil Kate Dibiasky.

You can live in denial for a while if you don’t look up, as the title suggests. The scientists express their apprehensions regarding the Day of Judgment.

However, in a bewildered carnival of media personalities, national officials, and commercial tycoons, their voices become muffled.

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The postmodern plot has an air of pastiche, and the persistent energy is contagious, as Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence portray the characters with a strange comic dynamic.

You might question if a real comet with that name will pass by our porches.

Let us de-mystify the matter if the question is bothering you.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.

Is the Comet Dibiasky Real in ‘Don’t Look Up’ Movie?

The plot of ‘Don’t Look Up’ revolves around a deadly comet rushing towards Earth. It’s understandable if you have doubts about the existence of such a comet in the real world.

The first problem is that, given how a comet is represented in the movie, it would be more appropriate to refer to it as an asteroid. According to Peter Isherwell in the film, Comet Dibiasky contains precious minerals.

A comet, on the other hand, is mostly made up of ice and dust, whereas asteroids contain minerals. According to Kate’s findings, the comet last passed close to the solar system before the dawn of civilisation.

They estimate the comet’s radius to be between six and nine kilometres. Politicians believe it is a minor issue.

Scientists, on the other hand, are aware that such an impact would result in extinction. In the film, Kate Dibiasky discovers the asteroid, and her mentor, Dr. Randall Mindy, names the comet after the discoverer.

He repeatedly emphasises that Kate, not he, discovered the asteroid. Mindy, on the other hand, receives greater attention as a result of Kate’s public outburst.

Finally, when the cabinet ministers congratulate him on the comet’s discovery, he is powerless to resist.

Around 6 months and 14 days later, the apocalypse occurs. However, you might wonder if humanity is due for such an apocalypse.

Dibiasky Comet in 'Don't Look Up'

Around 66 million years ago, an asteroid with a radius of 10 kilometres collided with the globe, causing the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.

The Vredefort and Sudbury Basin craters near modern-day South Africa and Canada, respectively, were produced by the other two known alien impacts on Earth.

The Tunguska event, which happened in Siberia in 1908 as a result of a comet or asteroid airburst, was one of the most recent impacts.

Around 80 million trees were destroyed in the disaster, which spanned a large area. Stephen Hawking considered asteroids to be one of the greatest risks to life on Earth in his monograph ‘Brief Answers to the Big Questions.’

The ‘US National Science and Technology Council’ expressed concern that the United States was still unprepared for such a massive impact.

They released a handbook titled ‘National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy And Action Plan‘ in June 2018.

According to experts, NASA would need a five-year window to prepare for an asteroid or comet impact scenario.

However, in his book ‘Pale Blue Dot,’ Carl Sagan highlighted reservations about deflationary technology.

If humans ever master such technology, he believes the world should be more concerned about an artificial influence than a natural one.

Thankfully, astronomers can now anticipate impacts a year ahead of time.

The asteroid 2010 RF12, which is due to collide with Earth in September 2095 and has a nearly 5% chance of doing so, is the most likely.

In a technologically evolved society, the Dibiasky Comet would have been discovered at least a century before impact.

As a result, a comet or asteroid should be the least of our worries. In the end, the comet is used as a metaphor for environmental destruction and general indifference.

The comet represents everything we are ignoring: the loss of biodiversity, the burning of Indonesian rainforests to increase palm oil production, the drying up of the Aral Sea, the possible extermination of bees, irregular wildfires and hurricanes, and so on.

As a result, even if the Dibiasky Comet isn’t real, the world is still in danger. The clock continues to tick.