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SF question: articificial supernova



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 26th 06, 03:08 AM posted to sci.astro
Axel Harvey
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Posts: 19
Default SF question: articificial supernova

A frivolous question for the Dog Days...
Assuming unlimited resources - the Milky Way
has been renamed the American Way, the light
barrier has been broken, etc. etc. Would it be
possible to eliminate an insurgent star system
by aiming a stream of iron and heaver metal
fragments, old mag wheels, dead nickel batteries
whatever, at its sun? Could it quickly implode
and go supernova under the strain of the
unnatural mass? How much mass would it take if
it was a young star like our Sun?

  #2  
Old July 26th 06, 04:08 AM posted to sci.astro
N:dlzc D:aol T:com \(dlzc\)[_1_]
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Default SF question: articificial supernova

Dear Axel Harvey:

"Axel Harvey" wrote in message
oups.com...
A frivolous question for the Dog Days...
Assuming unlimited resources - the Milky Way
has been renamed the American Way,


Aw, come on...

the light
barrier has been broken, etc. etc. Would it be
possible to eliminate an insurgent star system
by aiming a stream of iron and heaver metal
fragments, old mag wheels, dead nickel batteries
whatever, at its sun?


How many adjacent star systems did you want to kill?

Could it quickly implode and go supernova
under the strain of the unnatural mass? How
much mass would it take if it was a young
star like our Sun?


Enough that sending in that much mass would simply destroy that
entire solar system long before its sun had enough to supernova
with. If it were ~1 solar masses, you'd need to dump in about
0.4 solar masses of matter. Most of that, heavy stuff (aluminum
or heavier).

Ever read "Footfall"? Just drop a rock on them, or a series of
smaller ones, and let "nuclear winter" end them.

But if they got to this rogue planet, they can get off again,
especially if they see large masses of stuff entering their solar
system.

David A. Smith


  #3  
Old July 26th 06, 04:59 AM posted to sci.astro
[email protected]
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Posts: 36
Default SF question: articificial supernova


Milky Way changed to "American Way"?
Heck, most Americans would probably think that
you are talking about the candy bar not our Galaxy and
they wouldn't even know about the Milky Way because they
have never seen it!

  #4  
Old July 26th 06, 10:32 AM posted to sci.astro
The Real Chris
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Posts: 18
Default SF question: articificial supernova

The entire proposal is a typical human atrocity.


wrote in message
oups.com...

Milky Way changed to "American Way"?
Heck, most Americans would probably think that
you are talking about the candy bar not our Galaxy and
they wouldn't even know about the Milky Way because they
have never seen it!



  #5  
Old July 26th 06, 10:34 AM posted to sci.astro
The Real Chris
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Posts: 18
Default SF question: articificial supernova

I recomend a month in solitary for suggesting it. With reading material
about the sanctity of life and the beauty of nature.



wrote in message
oups.com...

Milky Way changed to "American Way"?
Heck, most Americans would probably think that
you are talking about the candy bar not our Galaxy and
they wouldn't even know about the Milky Way because they
have never seen it!



  #6  
Old July 26th 06, 01:35 PM posted to sci.astro
Axel Harvey
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Posts: 19
Default SF question: articificial supernova

The Real Chris wrote:
I recomend a month in solitary for suggesting it. With reading
material about the sanctity of life and the beauty of nature.


A month in solitary with pious literature would
only turn me into a raving lunatic - when I got
out I'd be fit to run for office.

  #7  
Old July 26th 06, 03:15 PM posted to sci.astro
dlzc
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Posts: 1,426
Default SF question: articificial supernova

Dear The Real Chris:

The Real Chris wrote:
I recomend a month in solitary for suggesting it.
With reading material about the sanctity of life
and the beauty of nature.


You obviously never read the bible. And wasn't it you that has been
posting "doom and gloom" on alt.global-warming? What you suggest is
also pretty bleak...

Or are those pants for someone else?

David A. Smith

  #8  
Old July 26th 06, 10:29 PM posted to sci.astro
Steve Willner
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Posts: 1,172
Default SF question: articificial supernova

In article .com,
"Axel Harvey" writes:
Would it be
possible to eliminate an insurgent star system
by aiming a stream of iron and heaver metal
fragments, old mag wheels, dead nickel batteries
whatever, at its sun? Could it quickly implode
and go supernova


To cause a supernova, you need more than 1.4 solar masses of material
in a degenerate stellar core. (For a white dwarf, the "core"
includes the entire star; the key is that the core be degenerate.)

If you can fling around major fractions of a stellar mass, why not
just knock the planets out of their orbits? Maybe into the star, if
you want to give the inhabitants a quick death.

--
Steve Willner Phone 617-495-7123
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
(Please email your reply if you want to be sure I see it; include a
valid Reply-To address to receive an acknowledgement. Commercial
email may be sent to your ISP.)
 




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