Realistic Planetkillers

[Coldfinger008]

And with realistic i mean realistic for a relatively early Type II civilization, in posession of about two star systems.

Now let´s say they have this problem with that OTHER civilazation just about a parsec or so away. They are annoyingly close, and they have slow relativistic weapons.

Meanwhile our own civ has both a good grasp of antimatter, and drive systems that can reach up to 80%c.

As an excercise of the readers phantasy, how would YOU destroy their main-planet?

A possibility ofc would be a directional gamma-burst weapon, that can scorch a hemisphere free of life, use two, and the planet is well-cooked.

How would such a weapon work?

Basically you would build two giant panels each about 1 LY away from the starsystem.

The panels would consist of charged near 0 K cold graphene sheets both from matter and antimatter, maybe with additional containment and cooling equipment around. To fire the weapon the layers are charged in opposites, so it will ollapse layer by layer. In the annihilation, as we all know, per atom used, a high energy gamma particle is generated, using the geometry of the process, a relatively coherent beam could be generated. Now unfortunately it would have only 50% efficiency, but considering the energy, that would be more then enough.

Another option would be relativistic bombardment from far away. This too should best be done from a polar position relatively to the target system, just so that no other stellar bodies can come in the way, especially not those annyoing asteroids.

This could be done either with inert or AM-warhead projectiles. Why no fusion warheads you ask? Because at 80%c the energy density of about anything is higher then that provided by a fusionwarhed.

Now you can be wiseass, and argue you could just use a composite, an APHE basically, but if you go for mass-bombardement, simple inert projectiles are just so much easier to make.

My personal idea in that sense would be a relativistic SABOT-AMHE, basically it would be giant needle of tungsten, hundreds or maybe even thousends of meters in diameter, with a massive AM warhead in the back.

Aim for the core, account for lead, and accelerate it to maximum speed.

Using the good old gravel-trick against it would require massive preparations for obvious reasons.

When reaching it´s destination, the rod (hopefully) penetrates the crust and deep into the mantle, now i don´t think anyone safe for NASA can make halfway accurate calculations for penetration of a planet by a relativistic object, but i would assume it can actually reach the core, if we assume an earthlike planet with a thin crust and a lot of liquid mantle. Latter does have a pretty high density, but it´s still liquid, and thus relatively well penetratable, compared to a solid. Like the core.

At that point the AM warhead would be detonated.

A core-internal detonation will first and formost, do all sorts of thing to the magnetic field, if it is broken with sufficeint power you have massive pieces of metal destabilizing the planet as they get pushed out by both centrifugal forces and the shockwave.

However, much less risky would be a core-near detonation. The hydrostatic effects of the mantle would conduct the shockwave straight to the crust, bursting it off, or at least destroying anything on it.

Using estimates from this site http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacegunconvent.php 8,333Gt of antimatter would be required to fully blow the crust away from the planet, assuming similar-to-earth. Assuming anti-tungsten could be used, this would correspond to 431.778.929 cubicmeters of volume.

Corresponding to a cylinder of 500m radius and 550m length.

Quite a lot basically.

It might be more practical to just shower the planet with 1Gt inert-shots untill it is fully devasted.

Alternatively, if the positions are right, you could just build a giant Phased-Array-Laser, to plug into your dyson-sphere, and cook the planet that way, the best thing is you could even wary the effect by the choice of wavelength.

Use long-wave radiation to only boil the athmosphere, and possibly oceans.

Mid-length to melt the crust, or short-lenth to evenly destroy all live.

Or just cook everything.

So, what do you think?

[crazyewok]

A massive 1 GT+ nuclear warhead?

Nuclear winter would kill eveyone and after a few decades you got a new planet to colonise.

Easy and non wastefull.

Edited December 22, 2013 by crazyewok

[Anton P. Nym]

Nicoll-Dyson laser, if we're talking Karadashev-II levels of technology. The ultimate in ominous-hum-THOOM! technology...

-- Steve

[Nuke]

if i wanted to kill a planet id land MASSIVE ENGINES on it and fly it into the sun. were not talking pewny mainsails or saturn vs, no we are talking orion drives the size of cities

[Coldfinger008]

heh, of course, why bother with an apparatus if you can just use the sphere itself.

thank you for pointing me at that site.

[Duxwing]

Attach a powerful shaped charge to a large asteroid. Quietly put the asteroid on a near-miss course with the target planet. If and when the planet's population attempts to knock the asteroid away (or at an appropriate point in the trajectory) so detonate the charge that it propels the asteroid into the planet.

-Duxwing

Edited December 22, 2013 by Duxwing

[Amram]

if i can make use of the planet myself, i'd settle for a set of reasonably sized asteroids sprinkled with a very resilient, and genetically tailored bio weapon that isn't compatible with my genetics.

better still, if I posess nano technology, i'll just leave a small swarm int he path of their planet some time int he future. The planets orbital motion will bring them into contact with the atmosphere, and they'll begin to do their thing. The intent there is to teraform the atmosphere to my needs, and deconstruct cells with the target DNA for materials.

Edited December 22, 2013 by Amram

[DaveofDefeat]

Nukes

#10char

[maccollo]

Redirect a planetesimal to a direct collision course with your planet of choice. Such an imact could lead to the extinction of all multicellular life on the planet (maybe?).

It would certainly do away with us if Pluto were to hit earth at 40 km/s.

[Duxwing]

Redirect a planetesimal to a direct collision course with your planet of choice. Such an imact could lead to the extinction of all multicellular life on the planet (maybe?).

It would certainly do away with us if Pluto were to hit earth at 40 km/s.

if i wanted to kill a planet id land MASSIVE ENGINES on it and fly it into the sun. were not talking pewny mainsails or saturn vs, no we are talking orion drives the size of cities

Nicoll-Dyson laser, if we're talking Karadashev-II levels of technology. The ultimate in ominous-hum-THOOM! technology...

These solutions would be noticed, complex, and expensive: can they be hidden, simplified, cheapened?

-Duxwing

[EvilotionCR2]

Hmmmm... Good question.

And BTW guys,we are talking about destroying the planet,not killing it's inhabbitans.

So,I would destroy the planet with Antimatter bombs deep under the crust.

[Camacha]

Define destroy. You can hit a planet with a life ending comet and it might tilt its axis, but you would not kill it. It will probably be a boiling ball of lava for some time and maybe change its orbit a bit. At what point is a planet considered destroyed?

But honestly, I would not even bother. Why do it the hard way when those squishy mushy inhabitants are so easily targeted?

[TheShadow1138]

I would probably favor multiple relativistic kinetic energy weapons. Provide them with too many targets, overwhelming their defenses giving a much better chance that you will inflict serious damage. I would think that it would be wiser to cause an impact winter that would wipe out the civilization in question while leaving the planet intact. This would give you the opportunity to expand your own civilization into that star system unchallenged.

[Aghanim]

I would probably favor multiple relativistic kinetic energy weapons. Provide them with too many targets, overwhelming their defenses giving a much better chance that you will inflict serious damage. I would think that it would be wiser to cause an impact winter that would wipe out the civilization in question while leaving the planet intact. This would give you the opportunity to expand your own civilization into that star system unchallenged.

Agreed. The relativistic kinetic kill vehicle could be a 100 metric ton (?) powered by a bussard ramjet? fusion torch? antimatter drive? and the target will see it as a normal peaceful ship until it suddenly hits their planet...

But the question still remains: Why? What is your problem anyway? I couldn't currently imagine a STL interstellar trade or whatever, FTL is still much more imaginable

[Tex_NL]

Drop some Grey Goo. Even a small amount will suffice. They'll never know what hit them.

Just make sure you don't forget where your left the kill-switch.

[Scotius]

I would start diplomatic mission, knowledge transfer, mutual defence treaty and interstellar trade. It would take longer than glassing the surface, but in the end i'd get a valuable ally instead of a lifeless rock

[Coldfinger008]

Define destroy. You can hit a planet with a life ending comet and it might tilt its axis, but you would not kill it. It will probably be a boiling ball of lava for some time and maybe change its orbit a bit. At what point is a planet considered destroyed?

The Deathstar kind of destroyed.

Or well, at least fully shed the crust.

Drop some Grey Goo. Even a small amount will suffice. They'll never know what hit them.

Just make sure you don't forget where your left the kill-switch.

Nice idea, but nanomachines take their time. Afterall the maximum speed they could manage would be the lowest Brown velocity of the atoms they are made of. And a developing blob could well be destroyed by something as primitive as a nuke.

But the question still remains: Why? What is your problem anyway? I couldn't currently imagine a STL interstellar trade or whatever, FTL is still much more imaginable

Because reasons. Although i have to say, using the Hawking Radiation captured by an Alcubierre-drive, sounds pretty nice too.

I would start diplomatic mission, knowledge transfer, mutual defence treaty and interstellar trade. It would take longer than glassing the surface, but in the end i'd get a valuable ally instead of a lifeless rock

Boooooring , or rather, not the poijnt of the thread.

Thing is, how do you make sure you don´t make a rerun of the Human-Minbari War?

[Arran]

Why would i want to destroy the planet in the first place, seems to me a waste of a good planet i could use for my own civilisation.

So i would go to erradicate the civilisation on the planet, and then claim it for my own, would make in my opinion a much more sensible sollution, and it might be easier to pull of as well.

I just need to disperse some biological agent that kills of a certain type of lifeform (i assume a Type II Civ can easely create such agent) for just a fraction of the cost a planetkiller would cost me, and afterwards the planet is ready for colonisation, complete with a functioning infrastructure and ecosystem.

[Scotius]

Boooooring , or rather, not the poijnt of the thread.

Thing is, how do you make sure you don´t make a rerun of the Human-Minbari War?

Good things came out of Human-Minbari War As for preventing such thing - I would plant a Foraker kill switch in every bit of technology traded to them. Including power plants. If they'd try to get cute with me...Ooops

[SunJumper]

If I wanted to destroy the planet, I'd start with orbital bombardment to wipe out all life. Unimposed by the natives, I'd then wait until an object can be sent to hit the planet at about 99.9% of the speed of light. Planet destruction doesn't have to cause native's extinction.

To the person that mentioned the Nicoll-Dyson laser, imagine setting up such a laser powered by a supernova...

Edited December 23, 2013 by SunJumper

[WestAir]

/sigh

As Q from Star Trek would say, just alter the gravitational constant of the Universe.

Duh.

[sjwt]

I think that if you had of responsibly neutered your planets, then this would not be a problem!

Please think of the long term effects of giving away live plants as pets this holiday season!

[Horn Brain]

Build a shkadov thruster and fly one of your stars through their planet. I mean you've got two.

[Bioman222]

I'd say a moon-sized railgun, with antimatter projectile.

[jwenting]

This has been extensively researched here http://qntm.org/destroy with a good list of options given.