So... about that black hole right next to Earth...

[Turd Ferguson]

In Star Trek it was established that red matter could be utilized to create black holes. We saw this when the Hobis supernova was sucked up and when Vulcan imploded on itself. My question is, how long do these black holes last? Are they temporary, only lasting long enough to serve the plot (sucking in the supernova, pulling in Nero and Spock, Vulcan, the Narada, etc.), or are they a permanent fixture?

If so, wouldn't the black hole RIGHT NEXT TO EARTH be a massive threat to the Federation? Or did it get closed up when the Enterprise detonated its warp cores?

 

[SalvorHardin]

Are they temporary, only lasting long enough to serve the plot

And there's your answer.

 

[Pavonis]

Black holes aren't permanent anyways. They all evaporate via Hawking radiation. Small ones will dissipate sooner than large ones, and the ones made by red matter are almost certainly tiny and short-lived.

Also, the plot would suggest they're temporary anyway.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Spock warped away from Earth and Nero followed. So that huge black hole was outside the solar system anyway.

What of those poor Delta Vega monsters, now the planet's orbit will have been slightly altered by the absence of Vucan?

 

[Franklin]

Spock warped away from Earth and Nero followed. So that huge black hole was outside the solar system anyway.

What of those poor Delta Vega monsters, now the planet's orbit will have been slightly altered by the absence of Vucan?

The drakoulias and hengrauggi? Yes, an inevitable orbit change would cause the climate of their planet to change considerably to be sure. In response to the new harsh conditions, the angry beasts have hunkered down and taken up reading Melville. In about 15 years, they'll be ready to meet Kirk, again.

 

[DonIago]

By that time Delta Vega will be a garden spot.

...and so the scales balance themselves.

 

[HaventGotALife]

Rain is wet. The sky is blue. Star Trek has plot holes. More red matter seems to create a larger singularity. It took 20 years for the black hole "lightning storm" to get Prime Spock into the story. So it doesn't close. It doesn't make any sense and any explanation would be speculation because the filmmakers have never discussed it.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Spock warped away from Earth and Nero followed. So that huge black hole was outside the solar system anyway.

Position matters less than trajectory. A black hole in the solar system might never collide with Earth.

 

[Opus]

The black hole created by red matter that destroyed Vulcan evaporated.

 

[Deckerd]

The black hole created by red matter that destroyed Vulcan evaporated.

I wondered about that. It seems red matter black holes don't behave like naturally occurring ones. In fact they don't seem to be anything more than very local destroyers instead of the galactic neighbourhood annihilators you would imagine them to be. Earth was never in danger provided the bomb wasn't planted in its core.

 

[-Brett-]

The black hole created by red matter that destroyed Vulcan evaporated.

I wondered about that. It seems red matter black holes don't behave like naturally occurring ones.

That much seems clear. If they did, rather than travel back in time/to another universe, Nero and Old Spock would have just died horribly.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Romulan starships in TNG were known to be powered by a quantum singularity. So in a way this wasn't anything all that new. It's as much of a problem, with or wthout lasting repercussions, as the writers want it to be. How many Romulan Birds of Prey blew up and nobody ever quickly mounted a rescue attempt of a nearby planet, because that implosion would grow and grow, engulfing nearby solar systems as it went. Assuming that doesn't take millions of years to expand and is essentially like worrying about what will happen, when the Sun begins to die.

Presumably after the Black Hole had finished feeding, it decreased back down to a subatomic scale and then disappeared from the universe altogether.

 

[Andymator]

Rain is wet. The sky is blue. Star Trek has plot holes. More red matter seems to create a singularity. It took 20 years for the black hole "lightning storm" to get Prime Spock into the story. So it doesn't close. It doesn't make any sense and any explanation would be speculation because the filmmakers have never discussed it.

It's pretty clear in the film that the "lightning storm" that Spock came out of was not in the same place as the one that Nero came out of. It appears that they just form and then dissipate quickly.

 

[UFO]

Spock warped away from Earth and Nero followed. So that huge black hole was outside the solar system anyway.

That’s essentially correct although my impression was that they warped to the last known location of the Enterprise (near Saturn).

What of those poor Delta Vega monsters, now the planet's orbit will have been slightly altered by the absence of Vulcan?

DVD commentary says ships that enter RM black holes have to navigate around the singularity. Matter falling in probably couldn't do that so the one at Vulcan is probably left with the mass of Vulcan. Thus Dalta Vega would continue to orbit the "Vulcan" black hole. 　
It would seem reasonable to speculate that RM black holes that don't swallow much conventional matter evaporate very quickly in line with "ordinary" mass/time/evaporation "rules". I just can't remeber how long it is supposed to take a planetary size black hole to evaporate. Quite some time I'm guessing so I don't think you need worry too much about the DV monsters.

It's pretty clear in the film that the "lightning storm" that Spock came out of was not in the same place as the one that Nero came out of. It appears that they just form and then dissipate quickly.

That is the "other end of the wormhole", not the black hole itself, if you see what I mean. Perhaps that end only "opens" when something goes through?

 

[Andymator]

That is the "other end of the wormhole", not the black hole itself, if you see what I mean. Perhaps that end only "opens" when something goes through?

Yeah, that's kind of how I took it too, but that's a little ambiguous in the movie.

 

[LtChange]

Come on. All the black holes shown in Star Trek '09 are small to very small. The Vulcan black hole is a small one, the black hole that destroyed the Narada is a very small one. Even if they could survive for a long time, they would be not threat to Earth at all ... Also, jumping to Warp doesn't say how far they traveled. They could travel in Warp for 10 minutes as far as we know, it wasn't shown, as what should have they shown? Spock sitting in the ship for 10 minutes in warp and doing nothing?

 

[DonIago]

Nevermind the question of how fast they were going at warp speed. You travel a lot farther a lot faster at warp 5 than warp 2.

 

[JonnyBoy]

Black Holes need matter to consume in order to "survive". Once there is no matter falling into the singularity, the black hole "evaporates". Scientists at CERN have actually created momentary artificial singularities, if I'm not mistaken. They are extremely small and only last a split second.

 

[Flake]

Soooo...

Spock created a black hole using red matter to "suck" up the Hobus supernova, a supernova that somehow destroys Romulus before Spock can get to it... Indicating that the Hobus star is infact the Romulus star because if it isn't the explosion would take years to reach Romulus. We are also told that the supernova will destroy the galaxy which even if the shock wave where travelling at light speed (which is impossible) it would take 50'000 years to destroy the galaxy.

Black holes crush all matter that enters it into a singularity therefore what we are actually seeing must be a wormhole not a black hole.

Where does the supernova matter go? Surely it should have been spewing out near the kelvin before Nero and Spock arrive?

Nero arrives 25 years before Spock, Spock arrives much later but apparently not in the same place as Nero? Very odd! Also this lightning storm in space causes seismic trouble on Vulcan? No that must have been neros ship? If so why didn't Vulcan command say something and prevent the destruction of the star fleet ships? Why do they tunnel to the centre of Vulcan? Why not place the black hole next to Vulcan?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Soooo...

Spock created a black hole using red matter to "suck" up the Hobus supernova, a supernova that somehow destroys Romulus before Spock can get to it... Indicating that the Hobus star is infact the Romulus star because if it isn't the explosion would take years to reach Romulus. We are also told that the supernova will destroy the galaxy which even if the shock wave where travelling at light speed (which is impossible) it would take 50'000 years to destroy the galaxy.

It was one of those speed-of-plot FTL Star Trek space phenomena, like the Praxis explosion from STVI or the ion storm from "The Catwalk"

Black holes crush all matter that enters it into a singularity therefore what we are actually seeing must be a wormhole not a black hole.

Not necessarily. http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/kerr-black-holes-time-travel

Where does the supernova matter go? Surely it should have been spewing out near the kelvin before Nero and Spock arrive?

It was crushed into the singularity.

Nero arrives 25 years before Spock, Spock arrives much later but apparently not in the same place as Nero? Very odd! Also this lightning storm in space causes seismic trouble on Vulcan? No that must have been neros ship? If so why didn't Vulcan command say something and prevent the destruction of the star fleet ships? Why do they tunnel to the centre of Vulcan? Why not place the black hole next to Vulcan?

The Vulcans couldn't warn anyone because Nero's drill kills all communications when active.

The red matter requires extreme heat to ignite it - hence it being dropped into a planet's core or igniting after the Jellyfish's collision with Narada.