BOOK BITS - WHAT IF A BLACK HOLE COLLIDED WITH EARTH?

By Tracy W.


BOOK:  "The Five Ages of the Universe" by Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin

 

SUBJECT:  The past, present, and future of the universe

 

 

BOOK BIT:  What if a black hole with a mass twice as big as our sun collided with Earth?
 

 

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BLACK APOCALYPSE

 

The chances are low but not impossible.  There are plenty of black holes in our universe, and about a million or so stellar black holes in our galaxy alone.

 

There is a huge black hole in the center of our galaxy, devouring nearby gas, dust, and stars.

 

And there is black hole Cygnus X-1 which has a mass 30 times that of our sun, and it is only 30 km in diameter. 

Our imaginary black hole would have only twice the mass of our sun, so it would appear to be small, but its tidal forces would be so colossal, that they would destroy our entire solar system.
 

 

WHAT IF....

 

Our imaginary black hole heading for Earth would have only twice the mass of our sun, but its approach to our solar system would have catastrophic consequences.  

 

Here is the scenario as presented by the book's authors:

 

The first hints of the approaching black hole would come millennia before the collision.  As the black hole passes the Oort cloud (a sphere of comets surrounding our sun), it would dislodge them from their orbits, trapping some into orbiting the black hole and dispersing others.

 

Centuries before collision, astronomers notice that the orbits of our solar system planets are all out of whack.

 

AS THE BLACK HOLE CROSSES PLUTO'S ORBIT

 

As the black hole crosses the orbit of Pluto, the orbits of planets really go wild.  Some planets may be captured by the black hole, others may be sent very far into outer space. 

 

If the black hole approaches from the opposite side of the sun, the combined gravity of the sun and the black hole pull the Earth into a process of severe distortions. 

 

CLOSER TO EARTH NOW

 

In a matter of weeks the sun draws closer to the Earth.  The sun scorches the continents, polar ice rapidly melts and oceans inundate the continents.  Hurricanes of unprecedented force rage over the seas.

 

Observed through a telescope, this black hole appears like a psychedelic comet, surrounded by faintly glowing gas and warped images of background stars and galaxies.

 

THE END

 

The end falls quickly.  In the final hour, real havoc begins.  As the tidal forces of the black hole take hold, the side of Earth facing the black hole is pulled with greater force, and the planet becomes grossly deformed. 

 

Stresses mount in the crust and earthquakes rock the surface - way off the Richter scale.  Tsunamis wash over the continents. 

 

The planetary crust rips apart along old fault lines, and patches of solid rock float on the scorching lava of the deforming planet. 

 

Earth is pulled like taffy into a disk of vaporized rock which forms a whirlpool in its rush to the black hole.  The energy released during the final demise is visible far beyond the galaxy.
 

 

Source  The Five Ages of the Universe, pages 124 to 128.

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More information on black holes

What are black holes? Illustrated explanation -
http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/black_holes/home.html


Awe-inspiring telescopic images of a real black hole as it devours vast amounts of matter around it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2463733/Astonishing-power-supermassive-black-hole-caught-camera.html


Virtual travel to a black hole
http://apod.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_bht.html


Summary of the book The Five Ages of the Universe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_Ages_of_the_Universe



Author Fred Adams's article on the New York Times

January 1, 7,000,000,000 A.D., Ann Arbor:

The New Year rings in little cause for celebration, Nobody is present even to mark its passing. Earth's surface is a torrid unrecognizable wasteland. The Sun has swelled to enormous size, so large that its seething red disk nearly fills the daytime sky.

The planet Mercury and then Venus have already been obliterated, and now the tenuous outer reaches of the solar atmosphere are threatening to overtake the receding orbit of Earth.

Earth's life-producing oceans have long since evaporated, first into a crushing, sterilizing blanket of water vapor, and then into space entirely. Only a barren rocky surface is left behind.

One can still trace the faint remains of ancient shorelines, ocean basins, and the low eroded remnants of the continents. By noon, the temperature reaches nearly 3000 degrees Fahrenheit, and the rocky surface begins to melt.

Already, the equator is partly ringed by a broad glowing patchwork of lava, which cools to form a thin gray crust as the distended Sun eases beneath the horizon each night.

Read more:  http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/a/adams-universe.html


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