Phasers and Warp Question

[redwood973]

Star Trek (TNG) Tech Manual-pp123 (by R. Sternbach & M. Okuda: Pocket Books, 1991)

PHASed Energy Rectification (PHASER) energy is released through the application of the rapid nadion effect (RNE). Rapid nadions are short lived subatomic particles possessinng special properties related to high-speed interactions within atomic nuclei.

Star Trek (TNG) Tech Manual-pp125

Phaser energy will travel at c (speed of light) to the target.
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My opinion (if anyone cares) is that phasers are worthless at anything at or above light speed. Even though it is made of subatomic particles; the phaser is only at c. If your car were traveling at c your head lights would not work(as you would be traveling with, or faster, than the light. Same would be true for the phasers. (My opinion of course my not work for everyone.)
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Please remember that objects on the rear sensors are closer than they appear. Redwood

[This message has been edited by redwood973 (edited 04-24-2001).]

[Brian K]

Starts humming the theme to MST3K!

[This message has been edited by Brian K (edited 04-25-2001).]

[suicide junkie]

[quote]energy is released through the application of the rapid nadion effect (RNE)[quote]
Some people seem to talk about the rapid nadions as if they are being shot out the phaser emitter.
That's like saying an Argon Laser shoots out Argon atoms.

Phasers are not particle beams. They travel exactly the speed of light of the medium they're in. (Just like redwood said)

Now, when something gets thrown off while you're at warp (eg. galaxy separation at warp), the speed will drop rapidly to sublight, but not instantaneously.

So the speed of the phaser beam would probably decay rapidly too. Starting at warp 9 + 300,000Km/s, everything will be sublight within a second or two. At that kind of deceleration, you will overtake your phaser beam after a fraction of a second.
So your target needs to be about 1,000 km away or less.

If you could see both ships, they would be less than 1,000 km distant (thats the width of a continent).

Seen this way, if you went warp 1, the energy buildup could be quite intense, as long as your beam dosen't interfere with itself. If PHASed Energy Rectification means every part of the beam is in-phase with every other part, then all you have to worry about is the other guy dodging when you start your attack run, and the distortions induced by your warp field & induced in you warp field.

[Damian Harn]

ACB jacketing. Its in the spacedock book.

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Capt. D. Harn,
U. S. S. Britannia N.C.C. 31379
Excelsior Class CEX, NTU

[Phoenix]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Damian Harn:
ACB jacketing. Its in the spacedock book.

</font>

It's not the technology to fire at faster then light I'm thinking about, it's the build-up of those "nadions" in relation to trying to damage a vastly superior (yet relatively immobile) opponent.

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"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."
-Napoleon

[Old Soldier]

(Voice effect: Maxwell Smart)

AAhhh yes... the old "flashlight on the relativistic observer trick"...

Switching inertial reference frames can be a headache. But since we're on the topic of Trek vs. Real World (tm.) physics; I would like to point out that Old Trek (Kirk era) commonly depicted phasers being used at HIGH warp. (But then again, phasers were also said to be able to use proximity fuses (Ballance of Terror).) I guess the question boils down to what you consider to be "cannon".

That being said, the only suspended disbelief concern I would have with the Phoenix maneuver is keeping your phaser wavefront from smacking into your shields (or vice versa) on the way in to the target.

Perhaps you could use your auxiliary nav deflector to help maintain the phaser wavefront in front of your ship?

It's a thought anyway.

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"Any society which is willing to surrender essential liberties in order to gain security, shall in the end have neither."