Do starwars sheilds block visible light?

lance · Post by **lance** » 2006-08-17 11:15pm

It would make some sense that they don't, because we can see them. It would also explain an event in the rogue squadron books where one of coruscants mirrors reflected the sun's light onto a golan station, destroying it.

Counciler · Post by **Counciler** » 2006-08-18 12:16am

I guess you just answered your question. Besides... if they did block visible light, they wouldnt be able to see whats in front of them... not light would reach the eyes of those on the bridge.

DesertFly · Post by **DesertFly** » 2006-08-18 12:30am

Wow, this is about the dumbest question ever. Do Star Wars shields, the kind that we can't see, and therefore are not blocking visible light, block the one thing we can say with certainty they don't block?

EDIT--Oh, and it's shields.

Connor MacLeod · Post by **Connor MacLeod** » 2006-08-18 12:39am

Some sources imply that shields block sensors (which might even imply visual), but it probably takes na actual cloaking shield to interfere with visible radiation.

Sriad · Post by **Sriad** » 2006-08-18 07:44am

It's actually a good question hiding inside a stupid one, I'd say.

To be effective, SW shields should (and almost certainly do) block visable light -if it's above a particular intensity-. Otherwise Star Destroyers would tote around exawatt lasers instead of turbo-"lasers".

Shrykull · Post by **Shrykull** » 2006-08-24 07:47pm

DesertFly wrote:Wow, this is about the dumbest question ever. Do Star Wars shields, the kind that we can't see, and therefore are not blocking visible light, block the one thing we can say with certainty they don't block?

EDIT--Oh, and it's shields.

Would be cool though, if they did block visible light they'd also be cloaks.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-08-24 08:48pm

Shrykull wrote:
DesertFly wrote:Wow, this is about the dumbest question ever. Do Star Wars shields, the kind that we can't see, and therefore are not blocking visible light, block the one thing we can say with certainty they don't block?

EDIT--Oh, and it's shields.
Would be cool though, if they did block visible light they'd also be cloaks.

Probably not very effective ones, though. Remember, SW weaponry can target objects hundreds or thousands of kilometers away; I doubt sensor rely much on visual scanning, and the shields would still be generating quite an energy signature.

Batman · Post by **Batman** » 2006-08-24 09:56pm

And I fail to see how they would work as cloaks any more than ordinary matter does. They'd be opaque, not invisible. Either they reflect visible light in which case the shield if not the ship is visible, or they don't in which case they still obscure objects behind the ship WRT the observer. Either way they're still visible.

Shrykull · Post by **Shrykull** » 2006-08-24 10:17pm

Noble Ire wrote:
Shrykull wrote:
DesertFly wrote:Wow, this is about the dumbest question ever. Do Star Wars shields, the kind that we can't see, and therefore are not blocking visible light, block the one thing we can say with certainty they don't block?

EDIT--Oh, and it's shields.
Would be cool though, if they did block visible light they'd also be cloaks.
Probably not very effective ones, though. Remember, SW weaponry can target objects hundreds or thousands of kilometers away

Though "turbo" lasers are very slow, how far away was the rebel ship from the stardestroyer in ANH? And since the "beams" are plasma, couldn't they only go a certain distance before dissipating?[/i]

Batman · Post by **Batman** » 2006-08-24 10:30pm

*sigh*
The visible part is not all there is to the beam, TLs have never reliably been established to be plasma, the damaging part of TLs is lightspeed and there is canonical evidence of lighthour ranges.

The Original Nex · Post by **The Original Nex** » 2006-08-24 10:50pm

Just to name the source Batman refers to: please see both the AOTC and ROTS Incredible Cross Sections books.