DS II - Reactor Cavity - Why is it so large?

[Darth Garden Gnome]

Did we ever see the superlaser actually fire while the fighters were inside the chamber, or close to it? I don't think they did.

It may also send out a lot of discharge too when the Death Star is entering hyperspace. Either that along with the superlaser, or just by its lonesome due to some characteristic of entering hyperspace that the superlaser does not induce.

[Ender]

More accurate scaling could come from the rebel briefing, and comparing it to the whole. It's diameter is something like 13% of the whole IIRC.

I had always taken that image as just a representation, and not a to-scale. If it is, then that is a DAMN big shaft going into there.

The rest of the image is to scale (Size of DS to Endor), I don't see why that part wouldn't be.

[Setesh]

The space may be to protect the rest of the DSII if the reactor has a breach or if they have to vent heat in an emergency without irradiating half the station. IIRC from the ICS the DSI had a lot of thermal exhaust ports all over the place, the main ports were to well protected to attack and the one luke fired down was considered to small a target to be a real threat. Though I read somewhere that that weakness was left in on Palpatines orders so Vader could blow the thing to dust if Tarkin got ambitious.

[Vympel]

Did we ever see the superlaser actually fire while the fighters were inside the chamber, or close to it? I don't think they did.

By that time the DS2 was turning on Endor to destroy it, as per Palpatine's orders if the shield was lost.

[Patrick Degan]

At a guess I'd say the cavity surrounding the reactor would be to facilitate the disposal of waste heat; acting as a first-stage thermal sink before the numerous smaller radiator shafts bled away the remaining heat into space.

[Ender]

My guess was that when it was charging up for a planet killing balst, they would pump in more fuel, so for the same power density, the "fireball" in the center would expand, hence the extra space.