Is inter-galactic space dark? To what extent do science fiction movies accurately depict light?

We are familiar with actual footage of space which shows bright solar reflection on space craft. This footage is taken in close proximity to the Earth's sun.



Science fiction movies show brightly reflected spacecraft in inter-galactic zones. Being a great distance from stars, is this an accurate representation of the true situation regarding light in these places? Or is it more likely to be like a starlit night? ThanksIs inter-galactic space dark? To what extent do science fiction movies accurately depict light?1) Yes it is extremely dark, a ship would be invisible (black) unless it had navigation lights on.



2) No Sci Fi movies often get it wrong,



The Star Trek image of a ship dashing through stars is wrong 'cause the stars are not that close together they are on average 10 light years apart (except in clusters)



The bright pink nebulea that voyager often hides in are not like thick smoke, they are so thin that when you get there you would not see them, Astronomers use special tricks to make them visible on photo's.



And battle scenes with the Enterprise and a klingon war bird shooting it out only yards apart is wrong, they would be hudreds of miles apart (did you know that in WW2 battle of midway the 2 sides never saw each other)



And finally the opening sequence of Voyager swooping low over the sun and skimming past Saturn is wrong, the ship is out of scale and is thousands of miles long



BUT I don't care, I just suspend dibelief and enjoy the show.



Good question though



AlanIs inter-galactic space dark? To what extent do science fiction movies accurately depict light?
Interstellar space in an area of the galaxy similar to where our solar system is located would be like a starlit night (obviously). Intergalactic space would be even darker. Imagine your only light sources as coming from the faint fuzzy patches of light like how we see the Andromeda Galaxy from here. Since that would make for very boring scenery, sci-fi movies fake the way space appears as a background and as a light source.Is inter-galactic space dark? To what extent do science fiction movies accurately depict light?No, it would be very dark. it would be like trying to walk through a forest at midnight with no moon and no city within 100miles. The light from stars is just not intense enough to be useful.



Light follows the 1/d^2 law (inverse square). The further you get from the source the intensity is x^2 less intense.



light bulb = 100 candelas (unit for light measurement)



at 5ft = 100/5^2 = 4



at 100 ft = 100/100^2 = 0.01Is inter-galactic space dark? To what extent do science fiction movies accurately depict light?
Actually, your asking a small part of a larger question - why is space dark?

http://cmb.physics.wisc.edu/tutorial/olb鈥?/a>Is inter-galactic space dark? To what extent do science fiction movies accurately depict light?Very dark. In fact, spacecraft would be practically in the dark even inside a galaxy because distances between stars are great.