A NASA scientist explains why this 'Star Wars' planet is just like a real-life moon

The planets and galaxies created for sci-fi films such as "Star Wars," "Star Trek," and "Alien" are pretty realistic.

That is, according to Robert Hurt, a visualization specialist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

In a video for Wired, Hurt analyzes certain fictional planets and compares them to real-life counterparts.

Hoth, the icy planet from "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back," is similar to a moon in our own solar system, Saturn's Enceladus.

"[It's] this pristine, white, icy ball that has these fantastic geysers of ice that spray out into space," Hurt explains of the moon. It's "less hospitable" than Hoth, but still comparable. 

"Star Trek's" Romulus and Remus are a double-planet system, which means the two planets orbit each other. In our own system once again, Hurt explains that Pluto and its moon Charon "orbit around a mutual point in space. That would actually categorize it as a dual-planet system." 

As for "Alien's" LV-426, the planet's "hostile environment" is similar to that of exoplanets.

Watch the video below: 

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