1) The star flared up to many times its normal brightness. This flare-up
peaked rapidly then faded out over approximately seven seconds.
2) The star began to darken and shrink in size considerably over the
next several minutes. We are explicitly told that all nuclear fusion is
breaking down by this point.
3) A shockwave was produced which proceeded outwards. This shockwave
covered a distance equal to 60% of the diameter of the star in a period
of 5 seconds - roughly equal to 50% the speed of light.
It was later revealed that the mass of the Amagosa star had altered sufficiently that it significantly affected the gravitational fields within the region. When the Veridian star was later destroyed, the shockwave produced had sufficient energy to shatter a habitable planet completely over a period of some seven seconds.
For the purposes of calculation, I will make the following assumptions :
1) The Amagosa and Veridian stars both have approximately the same mass
as Sol - 2 x 1030 kg.
2) The Veridian detonation was identical to the Amagosa detonation.
3) The planet Veridian III is the same size and distance from its sun
as Earth.
Planet destruction energy = 0.5 x mass of planet x rubble velocity2
= 0.5 x 6 x 1024 x 2,500,0002
= 1.875 x 1037 Joules.
But this is only that portion of the total energy which was intercepted by the planet - the entire energy would be evenly distributed over a spherical shell with a radius equal to the planets orbital distance. To calculate the entire energy of the shockwave we must determine what fraction of the wave was intercepted by the planet. This is given by :
Fraction = (area of a circle with radius of planet) / (area of a spherical
shell with radius of planets orbit around sun)
= (pi x (radius of planet)2) / (4 x pi x 1 AU2)
= (1.247 x 1014) / (2.828 x 1023)
= 4.409 x 10-10
So the total energy of the shockwave would be given by :
Total energy output = Energy to destroy planet / Fraction
= 1.875 x 1037 / 4.409 x 10-10
= 4.25 x 1046 Joules
This energy was delivered over a period of some 7 seconds, equating to a power output of P = 6.075 x 1045 Watts
This represents a the minimum energy output of the Amagosa and Veridian detonations - in fact it is perfectly possible that the energy release was considerably above this level, if the planet absorbed less than 100% of the energy incident upon it.
To produce an energy release of this magnitude some 4.73 x 1029
kg of matter must be converted completely to energy with 100% efficiency.
This represents some 23.6% of the total mass of the star involved.
Some have suggested that the gravitational changes are due to a large
amount of mass being blown off the surface of the star - that in fact this
material comprised the shockwave which destroyed the planet. But this simply
cannot be so - in the Viridian detonation Dr. Soran planned to alter the
course of the Nexus so that it would take him off the planet. But the centre
of gravity of a spherical shell lies at the centre point, so the course
of the Nexus would only be significantly altered once it had passed through
the shockwave... which would mean that the planet would have to be inside
the shockwave... which would mean that Soran would be dead before the Nexus
reached him. In order to alter the combined gravity field of the shockwave-star
before it reached, the mass must have been significantly
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