Re: OTS: The Lost World


Damien Sullivan wrote:
dsichel@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Hallvard B Furuseth wrote:

Comets have been observed for centuries and sometimes they split into
smaller ones, known as sungrazers. The antimatter
sungrazers are classified into families. (...) Kamikaze sungrazers
collide with the sun and produce gigantic explosions.

<http://www.antimatterenergy.com/sugrazer_comet.htm>, 2nd Google hit
for sungrazer.

I wonder if there are any antimatter planets left over after the split
which dropped one into the Sun?

Hmm. How much antimatter would you need to destroy a sun?

For values of "destroy" on a scale with the death of Moscow Prime in
_Iron Sunrise_ - I know that Charlie described the couple-of-kilotons of
antihydrogen in the robotic factories as "a candle in a hurricane", and
I'm pretty sure that (poppyseed on a grapefruit notwithstanding*) an
Earth-mass of antimatter wouldn't be enough either. But what about, say,
an anti-gas giant?

Sun surface escape velocity: 617 km/s
escape energy: 2e11 J/kg
mass: 2e30 kg
disassembly energy without using calculus: 4e41 J
Mass of Earth: 6e24 kg
Conversion energy of Earth: 6e41 J.

BOOM

Of course, just dropping an anti-Earth (which could give you 12e41 J, reacting
with solar matter) would probably end up blowing most of the planet back out
into space. But in theory the energy is there.


That's a key point. Any supposed antimatter reacting with matter will
produce energy, most of which will go into decreasing the reaction rate
- a phenomenon discussed by Hannes Alfven as similar to the Liedenfrost
effect. He proposed that this effect slows down reactions so much that
even the nearest star could be made of antimatter - we wouldn't have
any way to know.

Unfortunately there have never been observed any known macroscopic
matter-antimatter annihilations to measure the strength of this effect.


The biggest evidence against the existence of macroscopic antimatter in
the galaxy is that not a single anti-helium atom has ever been
detected. Unfortunately they keep delaying the AMS spectrometer
mission on the ISS.

Relatedly, the Death Star ("small moon") may actually be about the right size
to contain the energy to blow up planets. Actually delivering the energy
speedily without vaporizing from spare heat is another matter... but maybe an
anti-mass driver would work well. Actually moving your small moon without
magictech is also another matter.


Magictech is the key here. Without it, you'll never get more than
miniscule portion of the energy out of a matter-antimatter annihilation
reaction before your sources are blown apart from each other.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: "anti-gravity"
    ... SCIENTISTS HAVE KNOWN SINCE 1928 THAT TWO KINDS OF MATTER WERE CREATED ... SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN STUDYING ANTIMATTER BY PRODUCING, ... ONE FOR AN ELECTRON WITH POSITIVE ... ENERGY, AND ONE FOR AN ELECTRON WITH NEGATIVE ENERGY. ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Sometimes, Charlene never swims until Blanche records the variable journalist openly.
    ... the sun is radiating heat at the planets. ... smoothing out to a common low-energy state, a burning fireball is at work. ... like this, matter does something special. ... What would be a specific example of energy causing matter ...
    (sci.crypt)
  • Re: OTS: The Lost World
    ... smaller ones, known as sungrazers. ... collide with the sun and produce gigantic explosions. ... How much antimatter would you need to destroy a sun? ... disassembly energy without using calculus: ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Eclipse and EINSTEIN
    ... Another total eclipse of the sun is almost upon us, ... It had long been known that matter has mass. ... What he had found that that pure energy - even in the absence of metter ...
    (sci.astro)
  • Re: Eclipse and EINSTEIN
    ... He predicted that the sun would bend light. ... It had long been known that matter has mass. ... What he had found that that pure energy - even in the absence of metter ...
    (sci.astro)