As for the Vorlon planetkiller, bear in mind that it was large enough to totally eclipse the Centauri sun from quite high above the planet...
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Actually, that doesn't necessarily prove that it's quite as big as one might think. I did the math...
(orbital altitude) * tan (0.5 degrees) = approximate length of Vorlon planetkiller
Using this formula, I assumed that the planetkiller was just a disc -- the main body was fairly circular, after all. Earth's sun is a disc approximately 0.5 degrees, although that varies slightly during the year. I just assumed that Centauri Prime is close enough to be like Earth so that this whole thing is easier.
At a height of 300 km, the ship would only have to be 2.62 km long to block out the sun. And this would still result in not much more than a partial eclipse for anyone standing anywhere other than directly under it.
Now, the planetkiller might not have gotten that close. If they'd stayed further out -- maybe 6000 km, which is a pretty high orbit, but close enough to give the "oh no!" effect shot of the planetkiller with the wreckage of the Centauri warships and the planet in the background. If the ship were 6000 km high, it would be 52.35 km long.
So, we can't really determine a definite length without finding out how high the Vorlon ship was orbiting. But it still provides a good comparison or starting point.
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Prismatic Faye Valentine Fanboy
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b5tech.com guesses that the planet killer is 45km or so in length.
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Maybe one could measure by the thickness of the energy beams that hit it when it blew. I wonder how many were on it. Them Vorlons are a migthy forgiving kind.
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Well, there was one shot that I specifically remember, where there was a long pullback from a Vorlon heavy cruiser (the big ones from "The Gathering") with the planetkiller in the background, and then it panned out to show the entire ship. I never got around to an analysis, but it might be possible to figure it out from there.
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EdipisReks
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posted
are there any scenes that show a whitestar, or another ship of known size, near the planet killer. there has to be something we can use. well, maybe we can extrapolate the size of the walker of sigma 957 ship by comparing it to ivanova's whitestar, and then compare the walker ship to the vorlon planetkiller. we could at least figure out the size limits. i'm not doing it, though, too much work.
posted
I suppose that's possible. The problem is that the perspective compared to those large ships is vastly distorted. Like the shot of Ivanova's White Star and the Sigma 957 Walkers... the big ship was literally looming over and so even a halfway-accurate calculation might not be possible.
As I recall, most of the younger races' ships stayed away from the planetkiller and let the First Ones blow that up.
I just remembered a shot from the episode where Ivanova and Marcus first discovered the Vorlon fleet. When they stumble into the Hyperspace pocket, for a brief moment you can see the forward ships of the Vorlon fleet, and the of the "nose prongs" of the planetkiller. Again, the scales are so huge that an accurate measurement might not work. But it's worth a shot.
My sister has the entire B5 series on tape; I'll do a bit of research later tonight or tomorrow if I have time. (However, that will be AFTER I finish writing my guest episode for "Series ?"... )
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
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That'll be the third or forth episode of season 4. Possibly "Falling towards Apothesis", or "Dark things with scary night dark bits". One of them.
quote: That's pretty durned big. But I suppose if you are talking about something with the capacity to destroy planets, I suppose you'd need something of that magnitude.
How big was the Death Star again?
And can't the Defiant destroy a planet? I've never been too sure on that. "The Die Is Cast" seemed to indicate that it would take a fleet of ships, but "Broken Link" has Garak saying that the Defiant could reduce a planet to a "smoking cinder."
quote: would that have been Red Dwarf with crew, or without?
Surely that would be exactly the same size? Or is this over the two different models used for Red Dwarf? I never liked the second one. It was too straight. The first one had bits and greebles that made the ship look a lot bigger.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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Nah, it'd be before "Falling Toward Apotheosis". They removed Kosh specifically because the Vorlons had started to move.
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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EdipisReks
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posted
quote:Originally posted by PsyLiam:
quote: would that have been Red Dwarf with crew, or without?
Surely that would be exactly the same size? Or is this over the two different models used for Red Dwarf? I never liked the second one. It was too straight. The first one had bits and greebles that made the ship look a lot bigger.
i was referring to whether the ship battle would be with the red dwarf crewed nor noncrewed. afterall, it had 5 entities onboard for most of the show. that would have to be detrimental to the ships combat capability.
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"They removed Kosh specifically because the Vorlons had started to move."
Tough, man. Had he been put on a temporary ban by his admin?
And what was the deal with that darker, more aggressive vorlon, Kosh's successor, that raped the facial cavities of that redhead on a daily basis? If he got offed by the partial soul of Kosh, from his shuttle, doesn't that mean Kosh is against the Vorlon High Command? Even for a vorlon, that must be bad for the health, no? Like an outer space "X-Files"... :-)
-------------------- "I'm nigh-invulnerable when I'm blasting!" Mel Gibson, X-Men
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Omega: The purple one wasn't Kosh. He was just being obtuse when he said "We are all Kosh". Stupid annoying Vorlons. His real name was Ulkresh, although I don't know if that was ever said on screen. It might have been in "In the Beginning".
FTA is the forth episode, and "Whatever Happened To Mr Garibaldi" is the second. It has to be the one inbetween them. The one where Sheridan first has his scary hard bastard haircut.
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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Hmm... obtuse Vorlons on one hand, obscure nitpicky Liam on the other... decisions, decisions...
-------------------- "This is why you people think I'm so unknowable. You don't listen!" - God, "God, the Devil and Bob"
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Hey, I wasn't being nitpicky. It's more JMS trying to be clever.
But I don't think that the crew ever call the purple one "Kosh". They just say "The Vorlon", and continue to refer to good old "If you go to Z'Ha'Dum, you will Die" fun and light as "Kosh".
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
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