Skip to main content

star trek - How fast does a phaser beam travel?


A phaser fires a nadion particle beam at its target. That sounds like inertial mass is involved so it doesn't reach light speed. Semi-out-of-universe we see how fast a phaser beam is: I'd estimate something around 80 kph. You can see it moving with the naked eye. But that might be just a way to tell a story; to establish causality to the audience: "Look! First the beam is here, now it's here, now something's exploding." So the audience knows why the enemy ship explodes: It was a phaser beam, going from here to there. So maybe we are just shown a "symbolic slo-mo" to let us know what's happening.


Are there any in-universe insights on how fast a phaser beam travels? E.g. can I escape (escape, not evade) one on full impulse?



Answer




The "Voyager Technical Manual" (written by longtime Star Trek production staffers Michael Okuda and Rick Sternbach as an 'aide-memoire' for potential scriptwriters) specifically states that phaser beams travel at the speed of light.


enter image description here


This is backed up by another quote from the earlier "TNG Technical Manual" which clearly states that the beam travels at "c"


TNG Technical Manual


Given that full impulse is supposedly well short of the speed of light, the short answer to your question is "no, you cannot escape a phaser beam by travelling at sublight speeds".


Travelling at warp speed would be considerably more effective against a foe travelling below lightspeed since you would simply outrun the beam (unless the phaser is fired from a ship travelling at a similar warp factor).



Out-of-universe (e.g. from a TV production standpoint) phaser beams do often travel considerably slower.


As the video below shows, beam speed is wildly inconsistent. At the slowest they seem do seem to be moving about a couple of feet per frame. At the fastest, the beam is instantaneous from one shot to the next






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?
Post a Comment
Read more