Blowing up a Planet

[ChalkLine]

I had some free time the other day and I thought I'd spend it blowing up a planet. Harmless fun.

The planet in question was an Ancients citadel, and either Grandfather or one of his Kids popped it. I was mainly wondering if it was possible for a TL20 structure, artifact or special effect to survive the immense energies involved in a planet tearing itself apart after it was rolled over in its orbit.

So, I'm assuming that the sudden pole shift (in the order of one planetary day) can't be matched by the internal molten core, and the planet splits apart like a dropped melon.

Now, that's backed by absolutely no science. So here comes the questions;

- What sort of energy would be needed to do that? What sort of weapon?

- If the aggressor can spin a planet on its axis, could the defender use a countermeasure?

- What would the process of destruction be? What would be the difference in the resulting asteroid belt be different from the ordinary, if any?

 

[Spinward Scout]

Antimatter: Bomb, Pulsed Stream, etc...
Supposedly Shionthy in the Regina subsector was destroyed that way.

Kinetic: Large Asteroid, Small Moon
Pack extremely large engines on an even larger mass and launch it towards the planet.
(With a big enough lever, you can move the world.)

Energy: Laser, Meson
First, design a large space station the size of a moon...
("That's no moon, it's a space station.")

Depending on what you use to destroy the planet, it's possible a TL20 citadel could survive. No one inside of it would from the G-forces, probably. I'd say no with antimatter, tho. Laser or Meson could heat the planet up from the inside out. The crust of the planet where the citadel is might break off before being disintegrated. But if it was a war, that citadel would be the primary target - not the rest of the planet.

That's all I can come up with,

Spinward Scout

 

[Droyne668]

- What sort of energy would be needed to do that? What sort of weapon?

Relativist kill vehicle is the easiest:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativistic_kill_vehicle

PS
Couple more ideas:

Exceed the gravitational binding constant of the planet (something like 40 MJ/kg for Earth).

Few hundred million tons of antimatter in a core should allow the surface to achive orbital escape velocity...

High TL Matter-to-Energy Bomb. Dump 'em on the crust to disintegrate the place, or lob them into the sun to increase its mass and cause a nova or coronal mass ejection.

Rampant uncontrolled nanotech dissemblers.