By what mechanism can lasers destroy an entire planet?

What circumstances must be met in order to destroy a planet with just a single laser beam hit?

If this is possible at all then, please, try to provide some possible details:

• an approximate energy of such laser,
• distance from which it should be fired,
• what geological, physical chemical etc. steps or processes are involved in destruction act.

If this isn't possible at all then, please, provide some arguments to justify, that this isn't possible.

By destroying entire planet, I mean an example events that you can observe in some common SF literature (namely: the destruction of the Borg planet in the Scorpion episode of Star Trek: Voyager; and the destruction of Alderaan in Star Wars New Hope).

That is: ripping entire planet apart. Splitting it into small chunks or pieces of rock.

posted over 6 years ago

trejder‭

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