How to get rid of a Black Hole.

[Secret world leader (shhh)]

So I have this idea for a short story. It mainly involves a mission by astronauts to get rid of a Rogue Black Hole (that's a Black Hole that moves, incase you didn't know) that will swallow up the Earth and Sun if it isn't stopped. How would one hypothetically do this?

My current idea is a bomb so powerful that (with a touch of space-magic) it counteracts the gravitational force of the Black Hole and basically fizzles it out. But I then thought that such a bomb would have to infinitely powerful, and an infinitely powerful explosion would just blow up the universe.

So, hypothetically, how do you think we could solve this problem?

 

[hermes]

If a black hole was moving towards Earth, there is only one reasonable thing to do... Bend over and kiss your ass good bye...

A bomb to defuse a black hole is beyond a touch of space magic. It would need the equivalent of all the space magic from The Core, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Armageddon, 2012 and every sci-fi made for TV movie, combined.

Sorry, but other than a massive exodus (and some space magic), there is absolutely nothing I can think of that could stop a black hole...

 

[Luftwaffles]

Obviously you make a bigger black hole to consume the smaller one.

Problem solved. Next.

 

[Popadoo]

Create a wormhole and make it some other solar system's problem?

 

[DoPo]

Obviously you make a bigger black hole to consume the smaller one.

Problem solved. Next.

Well, I think it's recursive since then - how do I get rid of a black hole is the next problem.

OT: Well, make black holes behave differently in your universe. And counteract that. Maybe they are actual rips in the fabric of the universe and they can be "patched". Or whatever alternative interpretation you get for them.

 

[ReadyAmyFire]

I don't think it could be solved. Krauss' book, which I've just finished, describes a method by which a black hole can shrink and lose mass until it 'evaporates' (can't remember if that's the word he used).

 

[Keoul]

If it's sci-fi you could have earth put in a pocket dimension or something, and then when we return, oh no everything is gone the black hole ate eeevveerrryyytthhiinnngggg. Add a morale and you're finished.

 

[Froggy Slayer]

Why try to stop the black hole? Just move the solar system out of its way. Much easier.

We should take the Earth...and push it SOMEWHERE ELSE!

 

[GoAwayVifs]

I don't think it could be solved. Krauss' book, which I've just finished, describes a method by which a black hole can shrink and lose mass until it 'evaporates' (can't remember if that's the word he used).

It was probably Hawking radiation. Which is actually a thing. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawking_radiation]

 

[Secret world leader (shhh)]

Obviously you make a bigger black hole to consume the smaller one.

Problem solved. Next.

Well, I think it's recursive since then - how do I get rid of a black hole is the next problem.

OT: Well, make black holes behave differently in your universe. And counteract that. Maybe they are actual rips in the fabric of the universe and they can be "patched". Or whatever alternative interpretation you get for them.

In this universe, Black Holes are not naturally occuring things, so I guess that should immediately make them different.

If a black hole was moving towards Earth, there is only one reasonable thing to do... Bend over and kiss your ass good bye...

A bomb to defuse a black hole is beyond a touch of space magic. It would need the equivalent of all the space magic from The Core, The Day The Earth Stood Still, Armageddon, 2012 and every sci-fi made for TV movie, combined.

Sorry, but other than a massive exodus (and some space magic), there is absolutely nothing I can think of that could stop a black hole...

The idea is that the Black Hole is created by a thing that implodes and becomes a black hole, the device to stop it is one of those, but reversed. They are of equal power and should cancel eachother out. It doesn't entirely matter if they do or don't, the device never actually explodes, i'm just trying to have a reasonably plausible setup.

 

[Melon Hunter]

Throw stuff at it. No really, as a black hole absorbs matter, it gradually loses mass due to Hawking radiation, which is caused when a matter-anti-matter pair of particles form spontaneously, one within the event horizon, on without. As there is now a discrepancy in mass in the system, the black hole must lose some of its own mass by emitting radiation (as we know, mass and energy are interchangeable).

So, the more matter goes in, the more mass the hole must lose, until it evaporates altogether. Maybe. I don't think it's been proven, but it at least gives us an excuse to play snooker with planets. Just don't pot the bluish-green one.

 

[Zantos]

This sort of thing is going to be entirely in the realms of space magic and all purpose plot filler. Send some dimensionaughts into the singularity to defeat the demon driving it on it's genocidal mission. About as scientifically accurate as anything else you're going to get, and hella fun!

Or I suppose you could create another black hole of somewhat smaller or larger mass and get them to orbit around a common centre of mass so the mass of the black holes is converted into gravitational wave energy. Seems legit.

 

[Redingold]

Throw stuff at it. No really, as a black hole absorbs matter, it gradually loses mass due to Hawking radiation, which is caused when a matter-anti-matter pair of particles form spontaneously, one within the event horizon, on without. As there is now a discrepancy in mass in the system, the black hole must lose some of its own mass by emitting radiation (as we know, mass and energy are interchangeable).

So, the more matter goes in, the more mass the hole must lose, until it evaporates altogether. Maybe. I don't think it's been proven, but it at least gives us an excuse to play snooker with planets. Just don't pot the bluish-green one.

No...

Hawking radiation occurs spontaneously and at a rate that is inversely proportional to the square of the black hole's mass. Only very small black holes lose mass by way of Hawking radiation, because larger black holes will absorb more radiation from the cosmic microwave background than they emit by Hawking's process and so will increase in mass. The greatest mass that a black hole can have at which it will still emit more radiation than it absorbs is about that of the Earth's moon.

 

[Pfheonix]

So I have this idea for a short story. It mainly involves a mission by astronauts to get rid of a Rouge Black Hole (that's a Black Hole that moves, incase you didn't know) that will swallow up the Earth and Sun if it isn't stopped. How would one hypothetically do this?

My current idea is a bomb so powerful that (with a touch of space-magic) it counteracts the gravitational force of the Black Hole and basically fizzles it out. But I then thought that such a bomb would have to infinitely powerful, and an infinitely powerful explosion would just blow up the universe.

So, hypothetically, how do you think we could solve this problem?

Actually, a Rouge Black Hole is a deep red color at the event horizon, as opposed to the more common Charcoal Black Hole. These Rouge Black Holes are much rarer, and are constantly avoiding materials which will ruin their deep crimson coloration, and so will avoid blues, greens, and yellows, unless it is to counteract the ingestion of those colors. Thus, unless it has had a bad day, the Rouge Black Hole will leave us alone.

Alternatively, if you meant to say rogue, then we will be unable to do anything. There is little to nothing we could day at that point.

 

[GoAwayVifs]

Throw stuff at it. No really, as a black hole absorbs matter, it gradually loses mass due to Hawking radiation, which is caused when a matter-anti-matter pair of particles form spontaneously, one within the event horizon, on without. As there is now a discrepancy in mass in the system, the black hole must lose some of its own mass by emitting radiation (as we know, mass and energy are interchangeable).

So, the more matter goes in, the more mass the hole must lose, until it evaporates altogether. Maybe. I don't think it's been proven, but it at least gives us an excuse to play snooker with planets. Just don't pot the bluish-green one.

No...

Hawking radiation occurs spontaneously and at a rate that is inversely proportional to the square of the black hole's mass. Only very small black holes lose mass by way of Hawking radiation, because larger black holes will absorb more radiation from the cosmic microwave background than they emit by Hawking's process and so will increase in mass. The greatest mass that a black hole can have at which it will still emit more radiation than it absorbs is about that of the Earth's moon.

Even ignoring all the incoming cosmic radiation waiting is really not an option. A very small black hole, say about the mass of the earth would take about 2.1x10[sup]67[/sup] years to evaporate. By constrat the universe is about 14 billion (14x10[sup]9[/sup]) years old.

 

[Melon Hunter]

Throw stuff at it. No really, as a black hole absorbs matter, it gradually loses mass due to Hawking radiation, which is caused when a matter-anti-matter pair of particles form spontaneously, one within the event horizon, on without. As there is now a discrepancy in mass in the system, the black hole must lose some of its own mass by emitting radiation (as we know, mass and energy are interchangeable).

So, the more matter goes in, the more mass the hole must lose, until it evaporates altogether. Maybe. I don't think it's been proven, but it at least gives us an excuse to play snooker with planets. Just don't pot the bluish-green one.

No...

Hawking radiation occurs spontaneously and at a rate that is inversely proportional to the square of the black hole's mass. Only very small black holes lose mass by way of Hawking radiation, because larger black holes will absorb more radiation from the cosmic microwave background than they emit by Hawking's process and so will increase in mass. The greatest mass that a black hole can have at which it will still emit more radiation than it absorbs is about that of the Earth's moon.

I heard it as all black holes gradually evaporating due to Hawking radiation, although this is half-remembered off of a physics poster somewhere in school. What you're saying does make more sense. Still, I'd be prepared to use it as justification for watching Neptune go spiraling into oblivion.

 

[ReadyAmyFire]

It was probably Hawking radiation. Which is actually a thing. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawking_radiation]

That's exactly it. Quantum fluctuations at the event horizon. Thanks for saving me a flick through the book to remember what it was.

 

[teqrevisited]

I've never seen one before - no one has - but I'm guessing it's a white hole.
[sub]This answer definitely isn't serious, but it may be both humorous and, by an astronomically slim chance (pun intended), strangely prophetic.[/sub]

 

[GoAwayVifs]

I think I might have a solution that is slightly more scientifically grounded. How technologically advanced are humans in your story? You mention that in your universe black holes aren't natural constructs, so can humans create them?

 

[FalloutJack]

A Rouge Black Hole

Well, I hate to do this to a random poster, but since it's for a story, make sure it says Rogue when you write it.

That said, without knowing the exact nature of the world you're in to allow for technological development, here's what I say for somewhere around our level of understanding...

The head of the agency your characters are working for explains that they have three nil-chance possible solutions on the board, and the sooner you leave, the better chance you have of implementing any or all of them as needed.

The first is that of a device used to divert, create, or channel vectors of dark matter fields. Dark matter, being a dense material found to have gravitational properties to an extent, actually holds some sway over the stability of star systems. On the notion that the hole's path is directly in relation to what it's sucking on and what has the most or least resistance gravitationally, changing the 'contours' of space might roll this 'boulder' away from Earth enough for it to escape unharmed. Trying to move it 'down' or 'up away from the rest of the Solar System would also be wise. This machine has been programmed with a new DNA computer, so it should be able to calculate and handle the load.

The second is a more dimensional move. Beyond even the dark matter, there is an energetic force which is possibly linked with the dark matter - though scientists are not fully certain of this - which is commonly labeled as dark energy. This is an energy whose approach to normal space is a bit skewed, as an emission which seems to be also important to the stability of space. The device mentioned before has also the proper aparatus to attempt to use these energies to alter the path of the black hole with effects of space itself. More likely, a direct shot wouold fail miserably, as the hole would swallow it up. So, like with the other idea, changing the path or buffeting it indirectly could cause a change.

The last notion is the most dangerous, so much so that it is likely that even with the micro possibility of escape given with this mission, this is almost certainly a death sentence for the crew. Contained within the ship is a device fashioned by CERN containing quark matter, dark matter, anti-matter, and thermonuclear detonator to power the systems that keep it all contained and steady. Using the DNA computer, it has been postulated that a detonation of these unique materials will have some chance of creating the right spark to send the black hole in another direction...IF it is detonated at the spiral of its intake. No direct action of any sort could possibly harm a black hole, but the right forces at the right time have some sliver of hope.

Good luck and godspeed.