Talk:Phaser/archive

Forums → Reference Desk → Phaser/archive (reply • watch)

This forum discussion has been archived

This forum discussion has been archived and should not be added to. Please visit the Forums to begin a new topic in the relevant location.

I am currently watching Voyager's Basics, Part 1 and there was a brief sequence where voyager was fighting off two Kazon ships with phasers. judging by how the stars were flying past it looked like they were at warp. I couldn't tell if voyager's nacelles were in the raised position though. what was going on there? --User:82.4.52.14

They were firing phasers at warp. We see the Jem'Hadar do this as well, in DS9: "Valiant", and likely other episodes. --Alan del Beccio 00:45, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

The USS Prometheus (Prometheus class) and USS Bonchune do the same thing in VOY: "Message in a Bottle". It's a common error in Trek. - Enzo Aquarius 00:47, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

...which probably makes it not an error at all. ;) -- Cid Highwind 11:00, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, why would this be an error? Is there some canon source that says phasers at warp are impossible? -- Captain M.K.B. 16:15, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Probably due to Willard Decker's comment in Star Trek: The Motion Picture in regards to phasers at warp while the Enterprise was stuck in the wormhole effect. - Enzo Aquarius 16:23, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

...which in the next scene, Decker explained was because phaser power on the ship had recently been funneled through the engines in a new design -- phasers were unable to operate when engines went offline. There was nothing said about warp space inhibiting their function, just the ships own power failure. Kirk's order was erroneous because he was unfamiliar with the refit redesign, not because the phasers would not function in warp space. -- Captain M.K.B. 16:38, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

It is possible this concept is being confused with the "Faster than light, no left or right." But there are obviously circumstances that can supersede this "rule"-- as it was clearly seen happening in TNG: "The Wounded". --Alan del Beccio 22:40, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps the little Kazon ships were inside Voyager's warp slipstream at the time, so phasers could work within the warp field only? Maybe it's firing them at a target outside the warp field that isn't possible. The Kazon ships did seem very close. --User:82.4.52.14

Evidently you missed the part where we said that it wasn't an error, and was in fact common practice... secondly, what is a warp slipstream? --Alan del Beccio 04:03, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

ok, as i understand it, phasers, either beam or pulse, are a form of coherent light, essenailly. As such, phaser fire cannot travel any faster then warp 1 (i suppose firing from the aft arreys would still work). As for the warp slipstream, i think you mean warp bubble, and yes, i suppose that one 'could' fire phasers within the bubble, but once the phaser fire exited the warp bubble, it would be spread across millions of kilometers. i dont think a captain would want to fire directly ahead while at warp lest he hit his own phaser fire.

in my opinion, it IS a mistake that the production staff made, probably intentionally, so that there could be high speed chases and firefights