Black holes and mass

Written on August 22, 2013 by Damon Alan in Author Posts No Comments

((2 * G) / (c^2)) * (1 000 000 000 000 000 kg) =

1.48512969 × 10^-12 meters

A 1 quadrillion kilogram mass, compressed into a singularity, creates a black hole that is

.00000000000148512969 meters in diameter.

I was thinking about the FTL drive on my starship for my novel yesterday, the method by which the mass within the drive would be contained (magnetic bottle), how it would affect the ship (it would add to the mass of the vessel, in essence, GREATLY increasing fuel cost when it comes to maneuvering the ship.

In fact, it makes the very idea of moving the Michael Stennis impossible by conventional means, at least in any practical way.

So that means there has to be a science fiction means of moving the ship, either described very loosely or in a very detailed (yet likely a flawed) fashion.

I’ve decided to invent a lens for the purpose of my book that shifts gravity, which is how the ship will move. That lens will be able to focus the gravity of the black hole adjacent to the ship, causing the Stennis to “fall” into the artificial gravity well. I’ve seen this used in many other books, but don’t remember the methodology used. Any similarity to other books is coincidental, and not meant to encroach, but two authors arriving at the same method should be confirmation of the idea, not a challenge. 🙂

The ships of the Seventh Fleet move via fusion engines and fusion microthrusters, but the main drive of the Stennis will be a gravitational drive facilitated by a HUGE black hole and gravitational lensing. By huge I mean:

((2 * G) / (c^2)) * (1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 kg) =

1.48512969 meters

Since the black hole will be falling with the rest of the ship into its own gravitational field, mass no longer matters (lol… get it, matters).

The lens will be called… the Schwarzchild-Kerr lens in honor of two great black hole physicists.

Problem solved, science fiction style.

Now to calculate the lifespan of a black hole that size. Hopefully it’s many millenia and the thing isn’t a radiaton hazard to the point where it couldn’t be contained by a reasonable housing.

Black holes evaporate, more and more quickly as they shrink, shining brighter and brighter until they *poof*. You knew that, right?