THE film Interstellar should be used in school science lessons due to the accuracy of its visual effects, a scientific journal has judged.

The film, which was worked on by around 60 Bournemouth University graduates, follows astronauts travelling to another galaxy through a wormhole in space, created by a giant black hole.

The visual effects in the film are said to be so accurate that have led to a new scientific insight.

The American Journal of Physics says: ‘Christopher Nolan's science fiction movie Interstellar offers a variety of opportunities for students in elementary courses on general relativity theory’.

The paper written by members of the special effects team, including theoretical physicist Professor Kip Thorne, say lessons showing how basic relativity concepts underlie wormhole visualisations in the film would be "motivational”. They also say it would be possible for students to explore in a realistic fashion “what it looks like to travel through a wormhole”.

The team concluded: "As we wrote this paper, we became more and more enthusiastic about the educational opportunities provided by our Interstellar experience."

The Bournemouth University students who worked on the film included Andrew Lockley, who studied at the university’s National Centre for Computer Animation between 1999 and 2000 and was at the Oscars to collect the gong for Best Visual Effects, which the film won this year.

BU honorary doctorate recipient Paul Franklin led the Oscar-winning visual effects team, for London based-company, Double Negative, who worked on the film.

Paul said: “What was really exciting was that we were able to show the reality of the universe was stranger than anything we could imagine.”

The film features astronauts who travel through a wormhole in search of a new home for humanity.

Wormholes, which are said to look like crystal balls, are "shortcuts" through space-time that can theoretically exist although none have ever been discovered.