Title: Bigger Questions: Could Gravitational Waves Rip Apart Planets?
By Zack Zagranis | Updated 27 seconds ago
While most nerds are content to argue over whether Batman could take Wolverine in a fight, the ones at the Dead Planets Society are busy with bigger questions like, could a gravitational wave rip apart an entire planet? The latest episode of the New Scientist-owned podcast takes a godlike approach to the cosmos and tries to figure out if you could move celestial bodies around like chess on a chessboard, would it be possible to put two black holes near a planet in such a way that the resulting gravitational waves could pull it apart like a piece of monkey bread.
Gravitational wave researcher Christopher Berry joined hosts Chelsea Whyte and Leah Crane on Dead Planet Society’s most recent episode to discuss his area of expertise and whether or not gravitational waves could ever make an effective Death Star alternative.
What Causes Gravitational Waves?
Gravitational waves are usually caused by something extremely massive and dense, like a black hole, colliding with another black hole. The resulting cosmic ripples or “waves” radiate outward, disrupting space-time as they go. Because of how far away most of these space cataclysms are, the waves that reach Earth are so minuscule they can only be detected with highly specialized instruments.
Artist rendering of gravitational waves
The three podcasters started with the premise, “Is it possible to make a gravitational wave strong enough for humans to feel?” but the conversation quickly devolved into how to make waves big enough to destroy the Earth or, as Chelsea put it, “Yeah, or the solar system, or everything, everywhere.” According to Berry, the first problem would be distinguishing between gravitational waves and just plain gravity.
“In the end, the consensus seems to be that yes, you could use a gravitational wave to destroy a planet—or even a whole solar system if you so desired—but that the circumstances behind such a wave could never occur naturally,” explained Berry.
Berry eventually settles on vibration as the key to making the Earth pull itself apart. If the theoretical gravitational waves vibrated at the right frequency, they could potentially cause the Earth to stretch beyond its limit until it breaks into smaller chunks. The conversation turns from there to a theoretical cosmic symphony of black holes placed in certain positions and at certain frequencies, generating waves at different notes.
Berry theorizes that you could send that signal in any direction in space and it would become a beautiful-sounding orchestra of pure destruction.
In the end, the consensus seems to be that yes, you could use a gravitational wave to destroy a planet—or even a whole solar system if you so desired—but that the circumstances behind such a wave could never occur naturally.
Only if one had the same control over the universe that a Minecraft player has over their own little world, could a scenario be set up where planet-destroying gravitational waves could be generated.
In other words, don’t add “Pulled apart violently by a massive gravitational wave” to your 2023 bingo card just yet.