@duanemanscill
Science fiction has inversely shaped astronomy by inspiring career paths, sparking new research questions, and influencing observational priorities.Many professional astronomers credit sci-fi novels, films like Interstellar, or series like Star Trek for igniting their passion—surveys show ~93% of UK astronomers enjoy SF, with 69% saying it influenced their career choice.Hard SF provides testable ideas (e.g., black holes, exoplanets), while concepts like time dilation or wormholes push theoretical boundaries, sometimes leading to real models (as in Kip Thorne's work for Interstellar).Post-exoplanet discovery, SF depictions evolved to reflect realistic, often uninhabitable worlds, aligning public imagination with data.Astronomers writing SF further close the loop, using fiction to educate and explore concepts.https://www.universetoday.com/articles/new-study-examines-the-links-between-science-fiction-and-astronomy-1
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