Let's say we have a fairly massive blackhole near-by which is causing havoc with the solar system. Suppose we have the technology, can we destroy it using a stream of anti-particles (i.e. anti-matter)?

i personally have doubts because we would need the same mass in antiparticles as the black hole is heavy

Black holes swallow anti-matter like cops swallow donuts.

The mass of a black hole is huge; well past the mass of our entire solar system.

So, if you mean we “have the technology” to create a stream of particles from no where that is beyond the mass of our solar system, then, hey, no problem.

But realistically, no way.

if there was a black hole anywhere nearby we’d all be dead already.

I’m not an astrophysicist, but my assumptions are:

1) if it was close enough for us to reach it, it would cause such havoc so fast, that I doubt we’d have time to do much about it, and even in the aftermath the event would be catastrophic for our whole solar system (imagine trying to control a large wave in the Pacific when you’re an ant riding on a leaf and your technology consists of chewing bits of the leaf and moving them around).

2) assuming that it’s a stable phaenomenon, and somehow it doesn’t directly affect us, and we have the technology to get near it without being sucked in…I still think there’s a problem with the theory: anti-matter particles (which btw do not exactly come in a can) would of course destroy the matter particles that cause the black hole to be so heavy. But each interaction causes a huge explosion (which is why we’re into them in the first place). And the result would be catastrophic anyway, even if we could of course produce the amount of anti-matter particles needed and even if we could direct them to the black hole. So even though in theory anti-matter might eliminate matter, doing so would cause more damage than the black hole itself. Our only chance in such a scenario would be to get on spaceships and fly away.

Someone you know who hasn’t moved since 1959 might still have a fallout shelter in the back yard. The crackers might be stale.

The whole scenario just sucks!

The gigantic star that preceded the massive black hole would have destroyed us before we could even get to this point.

Black holes don’t “suck” any more than stars (or any other massive object) do.

obviously the answer is to send a very old alien ridiculously close to said black hole in order to quench it’s destructive power. hope he’s not late…

Let’s say that anti-particles are upside-down uncli-particles (uncli-matter). Let’s say the black hole is the victim of discrimination. Let’s say that the solar system is really just a marble game being played by a pair of giant invisible pink dragons who wear poppies in their hair, and chew on interstellar betelnuts.

Huh?

From an outside perspective, objects that approach the center of a black hole slow down to a halt due to the dilation of time; they never reach the center. So no matter what happens from the perspective of the matter or anti-matter in the black hole, from the perspective of the earth the anti-matter never reaches the matter it’s supposed to annihilate, and the black hole continues to suck you up like a hoover (I think).

@Jayne….Due to cyclonic nature, I believe it would be more like a bagless Dyson

One drop of red matter should take care of things.

Yeah, this question is irrelevant. If there was a black hole nearby (close enough for us to be able to shoot antimatter at it) then we’d all be dead already.

Beat the level 7 boss with the Fletched Arrows and take his Chest of Stuff. Then you give it to the Pink Dragon who eats betelnuts. He opens it and gives you the Sword of Devouring Devouring, which you use to slay the Blackhole of Proximity. But you need to level your Devouring Devouring skills to at least level 135 before you can get close enough to use it. I recommend grinding for experience in the Marginal Halls of Anisotropic Substances.

Wow, this is starting to sound like Legends of Zork.

Suppose we have the technology, yes. We’ll travel to Alpha Centauri, build a Dyson sphere around it, build a particle accelerator accumulating antiprotons feeding on the star’s output, compress the antiprotons so they turn into an anti-neutron star, pour more antineutrons into it making it collapse into an anti-black hole, accelerate the anti-black hole in the right direction and it reaches the black hole threatening the solar system. There’s a huge explosion and the Earth won’t die from coming too close to black hole.

Happy ending?

Wait, there’s all that gamma radiation wreaking havoc in the solar system. Ouch. So what about all the effort creating the anti-particles?

Did they do this in Star Trek?

@willbrawn Yes, that was AstroChuck’s red matter joke.
I prefered @timothykinney ‘s answer.
Black holes don’t have to be huge. Theoretically, it could be the size of a dime, but still have an enormous mass. If it was full of anti-matter, we could feed it Jupiter, and be done with it. Or Glen Beck’s ego.