{"id":109,"date":"2015-09-15T22:41:45","date_gmt":"2015-09-15T21:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/?p=109"},"modified":"2015-09-15T22:41:45","modified_gmt":"2015-09-15T21:41:45","slug":"the-science-of-the-death-star-the-physics-of-destroying-an-earth-sized-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/the-science-of-the-death-star-the-physics-of-destroying-an-earth-sized-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Science Of The Death Star: The Physics Of Destroying An Earth-Sized Planet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most iconic sequences in all of movie history comes from the original\u00a0<strong>Star Wars<\/strong> film, where the Galactic Empire brings Princess Leia to her home planet, Alderaan, and threatens her with the destruction of her world using their \u201csuperlaser\u201d unless she reveals the secret location of the rebel base. She (lyingly) reveals it, and then they give the order to fire\u00a0<em>anyway<\/em>, destroying the entire Earth-sized world in a single shot.<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pd8fyptDhdk\" width=\"485\" height=\"365\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>While it\u2019s an excellent plot point to showcase the ruthlessness and cruelty of the Galactic Empire, it might seem unrealistic that a simple laser \u2014 even a\u00a0<em>superlaser<\/em> \u2014 could cause that level of destruction with a single blast. But if we wanted to destroy an Earth-sized world with a single blast, in seconds, and still have enough energy to send huge fragments of the planet hurtling through space at incredible speeds, the laws of physics provide us with a fantastic solution. Let\u2019s look at what it would take, first.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-273\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/ethansiegel\/files\/2015\/08\/1-lSxcrwSQRYEOPnxcGupOjg.jpeg\" alt=\"Image credit: NASA \/ Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) satellite; September 3, 2008.\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Earth is an extremely massive object, totaling around\u00a06\u00a0\u00d7 10^24 kilograms of matter, from our surface down to our core. The force of gravity holding us together is tremendous, and if we wanted to literally destroy the planet, we\u2019ve not only got to overcome that force, we need to impart enough energy to the planet in the right fashion to overcome that gravitational binding energy. The amount of that energy, by the way, which we\u2019d have to\u00a0<em>exceed<\/em> to blow it apart, is\u00a0an astounding 2.24 \u00d7 10^32 Joules, or\u00a0<strong class=\"markup--strong markup--p-strong\">224,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000\u00a0<\/strong>Joules of energy.<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-0-inread\" class=\"inread ng-isolate-scope inread-active\">\u00a0The <a href=\"http:\/\/news.discovery.com\/tech\/gear-and-gadgets\/world-most-powerful-laser-120322.htm\">most powerful laser blasts<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencealert.com\/the-world-s-most-powerful-laser-has-just-been-fired-in-japan\">ever created on Earth<\/a> only release megaJoules (~10^6 Joules) worth of energy, so perhaps the\u00a0<em>superlaser<\/em> isn\u2019t actually a laser at all, but takes advantage of the same physics happening in the most energetic object in our Solar System: the Sun.<\/div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-274\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/ethansiegel\/files\/2015\/08\/1-Pr1mtjZ9iL7LSbNV3A84oQ.jpeg\" alt=\"Image credit: NASA\/SDO (AIA).\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"vestpocket\">\n<div id=\"vest-pocket-container-0\" class=\"article-vp-wrapper ng-scope\" data-track=\"6\">\n<div class=\"vp-slick-slider slick-initialized slick-slider\">\n<div class=\"slick-list draggable\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"slick-track\">\n<div class=\"vp-box ng-scope slick-slide\">\n<div class=\"knob icon icon-chevron-right\" data-track=\"vest-pocket-arrow-next\">\u00a0The Sun is a lot more energetic, releasing a constant\u00a03.8 \u00d7 10^26 Watts of power. This\u00a0means we\u2019d have to harness the Sun\u2019s entire energy\u00a0output for a week and somehow turn it into energy used to unbind the Earth\u2019s atoms and molecules.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>But the secret of the Sun\u2019s energy is the very key to making a<em>literal<\/em>\u00a0doomsday weapon such as this. The Sun, you see,\u00a0gets its power by converting matter into energy via Einstein\u2019s\u00a0<em>E = mc^2<\/em>. By fusing hydrogen into helium, about 0.7% of every hydrogen atom\u2019s mass gets converted into pure energy, a process that converts the equivalent of 4,300,000 metric tons of matter into energy each second. Still, relying on a nuclear fusion reaction is a fool\u2019s game, as you might have guessed just by looking at the size of the Sun.<\/p>\n<p>When you release that much energy at once, it causing tremendous heating and expansion, and so if you try to ignite that reaction on board the Death Star, it\u2019s going to need to contain a million times more energy than the Sun can at any given time. That\u2019s a\u00a0<strong>bad idea<\/strong>, and if you foolishly\u00a0<em>did<\/em> build your Death Star this way, you wouldn\u2019t need a well-piloted X-Wing (or Millennium Falcon) to blow it up; it would spontaneously do so on its own.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-275\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/ethansiegel\/files\/2015\/08\/2940573-deathstar.jpg\" alt=\"Image credit: Star Wars \/ Lucasfilms.\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s a very, very good idea that\u2019s even more efficient than nuclear fusion: taking advantage of the properties of matter itself. You see, a planet\u2019s core is extremely dense and packed with matter: the\u00a0<em>m<\/em> in <em>E = mc^2<\/em>. If we could somehow spontaneously turn that mass into pure energy \u2014 even just 2.5 trillion tons of that mass \u2014 that would release enough energy to destroy the entire world, exactly as we wished.<\/p>\n<p>Luckily for us, there\u2019s a straightforward way to turn matter into pure energy: collide it with an equal amount of antimatter, converting the mass of\u00a0<em>both<\/em> into energy via Einstein\u2019s <em>E = mc^2<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-276\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/ethansiegel\/files\/2015\/08\/1-h_0oaD6MOnj397-Ivp33Qg.jpeg\" alt=\"Image credit: Associated Press file photo, 1934; public domain.\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Instead of storing energy on the Death Star itself, or creating energy to be spontaneously released towards the target planet, you can simply create-and-carry the antimatter mass you need with you. If 2.5 trillion tons of mass needs to be converted into energy in the planet\u2019s core in order to destroy it, then bringing half that mass in antimatter, delivering it to the planet\u2019s core and simply letting it collide with the existing matter will do the job for you.<\/p>\n<p>1.25 trillion tons of mass might seem like a lot, but in reality, that\u2019s only the size of a modest asteroid.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-272\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/ethansiegel\/files\/2015\/08\/1-HhGlk-Se6OUaDdO_MMEtww.png\" alt=\"Images credit: NASA \/ JPL \/ Ted Stryk except: Mathilde: NASA \/ JHUAPL \/ Ted Stryk; Steins: ESA \/ OSIRIS team; Eros: NASA \/ JHUAPL; Itokawa: ISAS \/ JAXA \/ Emily Lakdawalla; Halley: Russian Academy of Sciences \/ Ted Stryk; Tempel 1: NASA \/ JPL \/ UMD; Wild 2: NASA \/ JPL. Montage by Emily Lakdawalla of the Planetary Society.\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Of the asteroids shown above, the asteroid <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/5535_Annefrank\">5535 Annefrank<\/a>\u00a0is closest in mass to what we\u2019d need, at just a few km in size along each axis. If we could make (and contain) a solid \u201cchunk\u201d of antimatter like this, keep it on board our Death Star,\u00a0carve a path to the planet\u2019s core (which an actual laser<em>could<\/em> do)\u00a0and deliver this antimatter to it, it\u2019d be the perfect way to\u00a0<em>literally<\/em> destroy the Earth, Alderaan, or whatever planet we chose.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-271\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/ethansiegel\/files\/2015\/08\/3D_image_of_Antihydrogen.jpg\" alt=\"Image credit: National Science Foundation, via http:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/od\/lpa\/news\/02\/pr0288.htm.\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not even technically impossible; we\u2019ve already created antimatter atoms in the lab, with antiproton for nuclei and positrons in place of electrons. If we could bind these anti-atoms together in a lattice \u2014 either as <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Metallic_hydrogen\">metallic (anti)hydrogen<\/a>or with heavier anti-atoms that spontaneously bind together (add some anti-carbon and you can construct\u00a0an anti-diamond!) \u2014 all you\u2019d have to do is isolate it in a vacuum and you\u2019d be able to transport it anywhere.<\/p>\n<p>The Death Star may have begun as a symbol of imperialism, military power and hubris run amok, but thanks to our understanding of physics, it\u2019s only a resourceful mad scientist away from becoming a reality. The power of science literally holds the secret, if we choose to make it so, to destroying an entire world.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-gallery-embedded\" data-url=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/pictures\/gjjf45fjm\/x9p7q7diteyrsn2ji1evgn85\/\">\n<div class=\"embedded-content clearfix\">\n<div class=\"article-image-box\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/specials-images.forbesimg.com\/imageserve\/69b4a0035f1174eae5eaa8a410404d27\/400x400.jpg?fit=scale&amp;background=000000\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-text-box\">\n<header><i class=\"icon icon-gallery\"><\/i>Gallery<\/header>\n<p><button class=\"article-launch-button\"><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Ethan Siegel is the writer and founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/starts-with-a-bang\" target=\"_blank\">Starts With A Bang<\/a>, a NASA columnist and professor at Lewis &amp; Clark College. Follow him on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StartsWithABang\">Twitter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/startswithabang\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/u\/0\/106562040211983246504\/\">Google+<\/a>, and support his<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/startswithabang?ty=h\">Patreon<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/ethansiegel\/2015\/08\/15\/the-science-of-the-death-star-the-physics-of-destroying-an-earth-sized-planet\/\" target=\"_blank\">forbes.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most iconic sequences in all of movie history comes from the original\u00a0Star Wars film, where the Galactic Empire brings Princess Leia to her home planet, Alderaan, and threatens her with the destruction of her world using their \u201csuperlaser\u201d unless she reveals the secret location of the rebel base. She (lyingly) reveals it, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/the-science-of-the-death-star-the-physics-of-destroying-an-earth-sized-planet\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Science Of The Death Star: The Physics Of Destroying An Earth-Sized Planet<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy","category-science","tag-starwars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109\/revisions\/110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coneixement.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}