Would the Death Star affect a planet's tides?

[Ascarus]

Alright all you science-inclined Escapists, I have a question that I've been rattling around in my mind for a while.

In the Star Wars movies the Death Star is supposed to be big. Really, really big. Big enough that it could be mistaken for a moon when it's near a planet. But when I thought about this, a rather interesting question sprang to mind: if the Death Star is large enough to be mistaken for a moon, would it affect the tides of a planet when it came close to it? I realize that tides are normally caused by the moon, so would the addition of a moon-sized object so close to a planet cause the normal patterns to get screwed up? Or would it be either too small or too far away to make a difference?

provided that the death star was close enough for its mass to affect the tides, then yes it would have an effect. but remember the force of gravity between two objects decreases over the square of the distance between the two objects, so depending on the death star's mass it might have to be quite close (relatively speaking) to have noticeable effects on the tides.

the bigger question would be, would the death star survive the tidal forces subjected to it by being that close to an object so much more massive than it is (i.e. roche limit)? i doubt it.

all that being said, given that the death star is designed to show and blow up the planet in question, the death star wins by default.

edit: changed waves to tides and clarified a thing or two.

 

[Twilight_guy]

1. The Deathstar doesn't orbit anything, it's a free moving spaceship so most of the time, no.

2. The deathstar is not as dense as a moon since its has many empty internal cavities while a moon is solid, therefore it is less dense then a real moon and has less gravitational pull.

3. Moons come in various sizes, some of which are very small. It's never noted whither the Deathstar looks like a big moon or a small moon. If its a small ,oon, it could have little to no affect on tides.

Really what matters is actual how much mass the Dethstar has. It it has sufficient mass, and if for some reason it was orbiting a planet (a stationary deathstar would only create one continuous tide on the plant) then it could create a tide. However unless some band of rouge Stormtroopers takes the Deathstar for a joyride, it most likely wouldn't be orbiting anything and we'd never know.

 

[Wayneguard]

I don't actually think the Death Star orbits anything, so I doubt it.

"you can see here the Death Star orbiting the forest moon of Endor."

...

What do you want me to say? Sorry for not knowing every sentence in the movie >_>?

Nah it's ok man. Touting my star wars knowledge gained from a childhood spent watching movies and getting fat is one of the things that makes my e-peen feel bigger... it's a personal failing. Don't take it personally.

 

[Olas]

Ya, it would affect them. It would blow them up along with the rest of the planet. (✌ﾟ∀&#65439☞

I kid, of course it would affect them, gravity is always in affect, even when it's super weak. but I think I have a better question. How on earth does that gargantuan thing propel itself around? Something that massive would need some pretty serious thrusters and I don't see any at all. Yet not only is it capable of moving it can even go light speed.

 

[NoOne852]

Artifical gravity aside, I am sure something the size of a Death Star (as hollow as it may be for its size) will affect the planet somewhat. For instance, the planet may not have oceans as we know it, but perhaps other forms of liquid, or maybe there won't be an abundance of liquid. The moon affects more than just our tides. However, this is getting off subject somewhat I suppose.

So, should the Death Star get close enough to a planet to be in orbit and not just destroy the planet, it would affect the planet in some way or another.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

And personally I would have ordered one of my ships to plot a hyperspace route through the Executor to take it out of the battle almost immediately.

EDIT: Assuming they had no Interdictor class cruisers there

One problem with that plan. Starships' hyperdrives have built in killswitches to prevent them from hitting stuff when they jump to lightspeed. While these can be disabled, or damage occurs from freak accidents in-transit, there is another problem. If you plot an unsafe or collision course route with your safeties off, your ship is going to tear itself apart from inertia before it jumps.

However, Ramming is still a viable option, without hyperspace physics. One A-Wing flying at high speeds was enough to smash through a heavily armored bridge section after the shields dropped, and there is one case of an unmanned Corvette with all shields put on the front ramming four Destroyers stuck in drydock.

 

[Stasisesque]

no, because

that's no moon

...

i'll get my coat.

It's pitiful that it took 14 posts for this. I hate Star Wars and everything it encompasses, but jeez people, how did it take 14 posts for one of the most iconic lines in popular culture?!

 

[Mariakko]

Well on Earth tides are caused by the moon, and since it is the Death Star not the Death Moon it wouldn't create tides. /Idiocy

 

[Torrasque]

Every object has a gravitational field, so yes, if the Death Star is close enough to a planet, it probably can change the tides.

Mind you, the Death Star is actually less than half the size of our current Moon, so it wouldn't really be too noticeable.

This.
The Death Star is heavy by human standards, but compared to a normal moon or other planetary body, it is really pathetic.
It would probably affect the tides a little bit, but not that much. It would also depend on how close it is to the planet.

Not trying to be mean or anything but it seems like the threads are starting to get lazy. If only we had more gender and drowning threads...

Just awhile ago we were drowning in gender threads.

As someone that has a tendency to accidentally create said gender threads, I second this statement.
I'd rather have vs. threads again than have more gender threads.

Edit: I kind of wish I had not posted what I posted so I could say "wait, the moon affects the tides?" and post:
<youtube=wb3AFMe2OQY?t=1m53s>

 

[Drew Kennedy]

Any sufficiently massive object would affect tides. technically any object at all, it's just that your average wookie doesn't have anywhere near enough mass to exert a noticeable force. I don't know off hand the mass of the death star, but as I recall it was the size of a small moon? If that's the case, and it where orbiting near enough to a planet, it would exert a noticeable pull on surface water.

 

[ResonanceSD]

False. as we all know, only moons can do that.

And that's no moon.

No but seriously, the grav pull would be, as always, inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the bodies.

So yes, probably.

 

[That_Sneaky_Camper]

Not trying to be mean or anything but it seems like the threads are starting to get lazy. If only we had more gender and drowning threads...

Just awhile ago we were drowning in gender threads.

Just think of it as the gravitational pull of the Death Star changing the tides of these forums. It saved you from drowning.