Difference between revisions of "Planetary shield"
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A '''planetary shield''' is a system that projects a single force field that encompasses a planet or projects multiple interlocking fields that provide significant planetary coverage. The shield exists to protect the planet attack by space ships and other phenomena, although the degree of protection varies. | A '''planetary shield''' is a system that projects a single force field that encompasses a planet or projects multiple interlocking fields that provide significant planetary coverage. The shield exists to protect the planet from attack by space ships and other phenomena, although the degree of protection varies. | ||
==Planetary Shields in ''Star Wars''== | ==Planetary Shields in ''Star Wars''== | ||
Revision as of 14:29, 6 January 2009
A planetary shield is a system that projects a single force field that encompasses a planet or projects multiple interlocking fields that provide significant planetary coverage. The shield exists to protect the planet from attack by space ships and other phenomena, although the degree of protection varies.
Planetary Shields in Star Wars
A planetary shield in Star Wars is a roughly-spherical shape that encompasses an entire planet, protecting it from orbital bombardment. Several references to planetary shielding technology and its effects are made throughout the Star Wars film-canon.
Star Wars IV: A New Hope
In perhaps the most spectacular demonstration of a planetary shield's power, the destruction of the planet Alderaan shows the 'breaking point' of a core-world's planetary shield. The Death Star I fires its planet destroying superlaser at Alderaan, a beam with a calculated energy of 1E38 J. This energy beam strikes the planetary shield, but the planet does not begin to sustain damage for another tenth of a second. This means that, before giving out, the shield was able to dissipate 1E38 J of energy for a ridiculously long period of time (0.1s).
Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back
In Star Wars V, the Rebel Alliance is able to utilize a partial planetary shield to protect them from the Imperial Star Destroyers' bombardment for some time during the Battle of Hoth.
Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi
This establishes the range of the shield-net itself. A planetary shield generator is employed on the sanctuary moon of Endor, prior to the Battle of Endor. The shield not only extends to the upper atmosphere of the moon, but all the way out into space to entirely encompass the Death Star II as well. Aboard Home One, during the briefing given to the pilots prior to the attack on the Death Star II, a holographic projection of the shield indicates that it does indeed reach out in a conical structure to surround the orbiting Death Star.
Further, in the novelization, it is shown that when a ship crashes into this planetary shield the collision destroys the ship.
Planetary Shields in Star Trek
Planetary shields are occasionally mentioned in Star Trek, but they are generally not powerful enough to protect an entire planet from a major attack. The planet Elba II had a planetary shield that blocked transporter function and could withstand fire from at least one Constitution-class starship; but no other planetary shield under Federation control was ever seen, suggesting that it may have been an alien technology that they found and used but couldn't reproduce.[1]
The planet Aldea had a planetary shield that could block transport and cloak the planet, but it was never tested against weaponry. Furthermore, it was an advanced alien technology that the Federation has not successfully reproduced.[2]