Re: What would happen if a bomb was dropped on a star in space?

Dear Rubin,

A very interesting question that does not have an easy answer. There are a number of variables that would change the result dramatically. Firstly what type of star. Stars are classified by colour i.e. the amount of thermal radiation they emit e.g. blue, red, yellow, orange etc. Our Sun is a standard orange star and is made up of 75% hydrogen and 24% helium plus 1% other elements. The coolest stars are those that are burnt-out and just fading away i.e. old white dwarfs, neutron stars. etc. There are those that never get to a critical mass to start to create energy through nuclear fusion... these are called brown dwarfs. And ofcourse there are those massive stars that have imploded but instead of becoming a white dwarf their mass has been sufficient to continue shrinking until they become a black hole.

Your question also depends on what type of bomb you are intending to send on your mission of destruction. Standard explosives, an atomic bomb, a hydrogen bomb, a neutron bomb? Each explosion is 'triggered' differently. The gravity due the massiveness of a star, the intense thermal radiation and gamma and x-radiation emitted by a star would make any incoming missile/bomb vapourise before reaching the plasma surface and would certainly make any explosive 'trigger' mechanism inoperative. Should our technology allow us to land on a star's surface and explode a hydrogen bomb then our small device would join astro-physics biggest "hydrogen bomb"... a star. (Though of course a star is stable, unlike a bomb!) Our device would make very little difference to a star's every-day business. I hope this goes some way to answer your most interesting question.

Ken Marrable