New answers tagged space-combat
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The power of the Death Star comes from the Kyber Crystals, as seen being transported in Rogue One.
As with light sabers, when a sith uses the crystal, it 'bleeds'..and the light saber/Death star 'lazer' turns red.
Also, because the bad guys use red, it's an evil colour in Star Wars.
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The Beam isn't Red
What you're seeing is a remnant of the fact that the local system used had a vibrant asteroid mining trade. The asteroids in the region happen to be rich in strontium, which is the element they use to make red flares or fireworks.
The beam is highly energetic across most of the electromagnetic spectrum, but especially gamma. The atomic ...
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Colour only determines energy per photon, which doesn't matter. For the most part, picking a particular wavelength doesn't sacrifice power or efficiency. The most powerful laser system in the world, the National Ignition Facility, currently generates light in the near infrared at 1053 nm before being converted to ultraviolet in the final stage.
It is true ...
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Red is more energy efficient.
The idea that a laser that is green, blue or even a gamma-ray laser, is more powerful than a red one is wrong. It is true that a blue photon has more energy than a green one, and a green one more than a red one, but that doesn't really matter - you can just use more or fewer of whatever colour of photon you have chosen.
[How ...
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Colour-coded for your convenience
This is the name of a trope which is summed up by "indication through coloring". In fiction, colour-coding is usually done for the benefit of the audience, and usually obeys a variety of social conventions. For instance, red is the color of bad guys, but it's also the colour of passion (may it be love or rage), of Communism,...
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Red means dead.
(I'm guessing "red means death" would gramatically be more correct, but that doesn't rhyme).
Red is a warning color which most sentient beings recognize immediately. Why do you think stop signs or red traffic lights are red (not blue, which would be visible much further). Remember Ethan Hunt's wrist-mounted decibel meter in the Mission ...
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To advertise that it's on a low setting
Everyone knows a red laser is the least energetic kind of laser. So when they see a planet blown up by a red laser they know their problems can easily get even worse. It advertises to everyone that if they get any cute ideas about shielding their planet you can always switch over to the blue laser mode and blow up ...
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This is a helium/neon laser. This is one of the earliest types of laser invented. The tube glows pink, and the colour of the laser beam that comes out one end can be tuned a bit but only in the red or infrared range. Green, blue and UV lasers weren't invented until much later. Neither were the laser diodes that we use to make small, cheap lasers now.
If ...
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"Because red lasers are cool!"
I asked myself that years ago. But just like who and what decided light saber colors to be that way, there's really no telling except the people who told the story, and as far I know I have not seen an explanation, both in-universe and in interviews.
You can, however, choose your own explanation. Beams of light takes on colors ...
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The color of the laser is irrelevant. Once the planet is destroyed the Death Moon will have no well defined centre of mass to orbit. It will quickly become impossible to aim the laser as the orbit becomes irregular. After that targeting other planets will become essentially impossible.
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Short Answer:
I don't know how to make a visible Death Star beam.
Long Answer:
But I do have few ideas which someone else might be able to calculate the possibility of making work.
Part One of six: Basic Death Star improbability.
Are they going to move the Moon from planet to planet and solar system to solar system during war? If so they have to build ...
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Demolitions protocol. During the demolition of any larger structure a warning needs to be given to ensure people can evacuate in time.
Of course, the builders of this Death Moon weren't too concerned with that. This moon is designed as a statement, and they are going to make damn sure that anyone nearby saw who and what blew up their planet so no one can ...
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Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick.
First off, you have to understand that the basic concept behind the Death Star is the same as with the KGS Bismarck and the (never completed) U.S.S. Montana; its a big ship that can blast any other big ship without receiving a single dent, forcing other nations to forever use ships to guard against it instead of attacking ...
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Efficiency
Red light goes through an Earth-like atmosphere better than x-rays and other high frequency radiation. In fact that's why sunsets are red 😉
Please notice that being a laser, it will NOT be visible while on its way to the target. We will only know it is red when it hits - and if we are the target, we will only know its color for a very short ...
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To make a statement.
There is no real requirement for a laser to be red - in fact it is likely 'invisible' unless it shines through a gas or other medium that scatters the light.
So perhaps the makers of the Death Star want to make a statement: they want everyone to know that they mean business. After all, the power of the Death Star is the threat of its ...
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