3 ms·
Given that a typical white dwarf is thought to occupy a volume comparable to the volume of earth-like planets, it strikes me as precisely the sort of object one
by ifAndOnlyIf 8y ago
Given that a typical white dwarf is thought to occupy a volume comparable to the volume of earth-like planets, it strikes me as precisely the sort of object one might select to destroy a planet like earth in a single stroke.
From wikipedia:
The estimated radii of observed white dwarfs
are typically between 0.8% and 2% of the
radius of the Sun; this is comparable to the
Earth's radius of approximately 0.9% solar
radius.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dwarf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dwarf
Catapults, naval cannons, carpet bombing cities to hit one obscure factory. War is littered with stories of absurd mismatches in economies of scale.
- cfadvan 8y agoThe problem is while it has a volume comparable to Earth, its mass is comparable to Sol! It would take an unbelievable amount of energy to move something so massive from its original position to a collision course with another body. With a fraction of that energy you could pummel a planet with a swarm of tens of thousands of giant asteroids for years.