Are the "sensor domes" really shield generators?

[Mr. Oragahn]

Please make that picture a link, Cocytus. Thank you. ;)

[Kazeite]

SWTC' page about shield/sensor domes was a very entertaining read for me, I must say. In short, Saxton notes that no other SW ship has such structures, ergo, those cannot be shield generators, then he draws parallels with RL sensor domes and concludes that because of that (and some backstage comment) they are sensor domes, despite the fact that no other SW ship has such structures.

I'm sorry, Dr. Saxton, but you can't have it both ways: you cannot assume that shield domes must look similar on all vessels, and at the same time assume that sensor domes can look different.

[Mr. Oragahn]

They do look like sensor domes, but their placement is stupid for spaceships.

[Praeothmin]

And they also look like shield emitters.

I mean, honestly, how do we know what shield emitters would look like???
:)

[Mr. Oragahn]

And they also look like shield emitters.

I mean, honestly, how do we know what shield emitters would look like???
:)

Dishes and bulbous stuff strapped onto the hulls of ships, for example.
But they could be metal plates of any shape or stick antennas for all we know.
It's quite interesting that the devices used to project shields can so closely look like sensor devices, like the Endor dish. You could get the whole galaxy's p0rn with that stuff.

[Mike DiCenso]

Now that is an interesting thought. The Endor shield projector was a massive dish hundreds of meters wide. We see smaller dishes on the Falcon and the Tanative that could either be sensors, or part of the deflector shields projection system. Likewise, on both types of ISDs, the domes on top of the conning towers could be part of a shield projection system, with the dish structures hidden inside like modern day radar systems.

The problem is, if those are shield generators, how do they get coverage over the entire ship? Is there more to it than just projecting them from those dishes and domes, or is there a further means to it?
-Mike

[Mike DiCenso]

They do look like sensor domes, but their placement is stupid for spaceships.

The whole 20th century Earth, sea-going battleship-style conning tower superstructure thing on the ISD is dumb, too. But that's another matter all together...
-Mike

[Who is like God arbour]

It's quite interesting that the devices used to project shields can so closely look like sensor devices, like the Endor dish.

But the difference is, that the Endor dish has projected a shield with a well-defined shield perimeter. An ISD has no visible shield perimeter nor are any shield reactions observable. Therefore I wouldn't describe it as a shield but more as a field.

The problem is, if those are shield generators, how do they get coverage over the entire ship? Is there more to it than just projecting them from those dishes and domes, or is there a further means to it?

If one regard the shields of an ISD more as a field than a shield, one could apply similar concepts as are used for magnetism. The one dome would create a field around the conning tower and the other dome would create a field around the whole ship.

• 
  • I know, that I'm not Picasso. Please no comments regarding the quality of that graphic.

That would be conformable with the magnetic shield of the Death Star, that was mentioned in A New Hope, where no other shields could have been observed either.

[Mike DiCenso]

WILGA, I've already speculated on the magnetic lobe concept for SW shields earlier in this thread. But there are some potential issues that need to be explained away.

For one thing, we know that there are apparently multiple shields protecting a ship, at least where the Millenium Falcon is concerned. If the shield were just simply two large magnetic lobes surrounding the ship, the Falcon's aft shield could not have been taken down, leaving the ship totally vunerable, while the front shields are not only in place, but can be reinforced by channeling all power reserves into it. Further, the shields of the Falcon have an interesting property not heard about with other SW shields, they can be "angled" to achieve more optimal coverage. Also, why in RoTJ would the officer have so specifically described the downed shield as "The bridge deflector shield", and not the "Port shield", or the "dorsal shield"?
-Mike

[Mr. Oragahn]

I'm afraid the nature of shields itself requires a system more elaborate than magnetic fields, for simple internal communications. At least as long as you count on deflecting something.

Plus shields are hull hugging for ships.

[Mr. Oragahn]

Further, the shields of the Falcon have an interesting property not heard about with other SW shields, they can be "angled" to achieve more optimal coverage.

Probably a good thing to deflect bolts. Bolt bouncing off surfaces is not unheard of in SW. If rifle bolts can bump off grass, I suppose there has to be something to exploit here as well, even if the occurances of such phenomena is relatively rare.

[Who is like God arbour]

1. I have considered the mentioning of a bridge deflector shield. That's why I have one dome with a small field around the conning tower and one dome around the whole ship. When the officer reported the loss of the bridge deflector shield, only one dome was destroyed. Therfore I have to assume, that only that dome has created a field, that was supposed to protect the conning tower with the bridge, while the other dome would create a field to protect the rest of the ship.
2. There are different kinds of shields (or fields) in Star Wars. We have seen also shields with a well.defined perimeter. It is possible, that different ships are using different shield systems. The shield of the Millenium Falcon could be a real shield, while the ISDs have a kind of dampening-field.
3. Please elaborate, what you mean with »the shields of the Falcon have an interesting property not heard about with other SW shields, they can be "angled" to achieve more optimal coverage«. I can't remember to have heard anything about that.
   
   • And please note, that you self are saying, that the shields of the Millenium Falcon are able to do something, that other ship shields apparently are not able to do. That would support the notion, that the shield system of the Millenium Falcon is different from what protection an ISD is using.
4. I have not said, that the fields, an ISD is using, is magnetic. I have said: »If one regard the shields of an ISD more as a field than a shield, one could apply similar concepts as are used for magnetism.« The notion was, that, what is commonly called a shield, whould be better named as a field with the consequence that field models are applicable .
5. Is there any evidence for hull-hugging shields in Star Wars and if yes, in what canon? The movies and novelizations don't support that notion as far as I know. Quite contrary: In A New Hope a magnetic field is explicit mentioned, while other shields could not have been observed.

[Mr. Oragahn]

Is there any evidence for hull-hugging shields in Star Wars and if yes, in what canon? The movies and novelizations don't support that notion as far as I know. Quite contrary: In A New Hope a magnetic field is explicit mentioned, while other shields could not have been observed.

The prequels show a lot of such evidence, but shields can be shaped differently. That said, considering where explosions occur nearby ISDs, there's no doubt that shields are close to the hull.

[Mr. Oragahn]

Is there any evidence for hull-hugging shields in Star Wars and if yes, in what canon? The movies and novelizations don't support that notion as far as I know. Quite contrary: In A New Hope a magnetic field is explicit mentioned, while other shields could not have been observed.

The prequels show a lot of such evidence, but shields can be shaped differently. That said, considering where explosions occur nearby ISDs, there's no doubt that shields are close to the hull.

[Praeothmin]

WILGA an Oragahn, in RotJ, when the Tie Fighters are attacking the Rebel fleet, we see them shooting at and crashing in Rebel Capital ships.
All the explosions shown seem to be barely above the surface of the ship, and not directly on it.

And the domes could be part of both systems, as has been pointed out.
And they could simply be the more powerful deflector arrays in a series of multiple deflector arrays.
We see many protruding parts on an ISD, on top, below, in the trenches.
Many of those protuberances could be additional sensor and shield emitters.