Would the Death Star affect a planet's tides?

[Lord Garnaat]

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?

 

[DJ_DEnM]

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

 

[McMullen]

Sounds like a question for what-if.xkcd.com. Why not submit it?

 

[Frybird]

Without having much of a clue about physics and stuff, i guess it would depend on how gravity works on the death star and whether or not it has a gravitational pull outside of itself.

Really interesting question, but i fear given the information given by the movies you can at best only assume and guess...

 

[SomeLameStuff]

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.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

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...

 

[C. Cain]

Depends on the Death Star's mass rather than its volume.

 

[Daverson]

If it were the right kind of orbit around a planet, then yes. I don't think they ever specify exactly in the movies where the death star(s) were, exactly, though. I think they were in orbit of stars, rather than planets, though.

We never see the Death star go into hyperspace though, and the rebels seem close enough to launch an attack with what can be assumed to be short-range craft... the implication here is presumably that the Empire built their superweapon right next to the rebel base they spent the entire film looking for, and just didn't notice.

 

[Dryk]

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.

The moon is very far away though, in Return of the Jedi the Death Star is reeeeeaaaaallllyy close to Endor's moon in comparison.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Depends on the mass, how close it is, and any number of other things.

Blowing the planet apart would likely affect the tides, yes.

 

[Yopaz]

I am not a physicist nor a big Star Wars fan so I might not be right here.
I don't think it would have a lot to say for the tides. The Deah Star is big, but not as big as our moon, it's also hollow meaning that it doesn't have that much mass compared to the moon either. My guess is that if it does have any impact it will be minimal unless there's some space magic giving it a stronger gravity field.

 

[Quijiboh]

As people have said - the actual mass of the Death Star is crucial. It's big, but also hollow, and we don't know how dense the materials it's made from are.

It also depends on how far away from a planet it is. Gravitational pull diminishes at (roughly) the square of the distance a body is from another, so it would need to be good and close.

Lastly, it would also matter if it was orbiting around the planet or stably hovering over a fixed point. Tides are caused by the moon travelling over the surface of the planet, pulling water with it slightly. This wouldn't happen if it was above the same point in the sky all the time. In that case, initially the death star would draw water to it when it arrived over a planet, but after that water levels wouldn't change.

 

[Fasckira]

You should check this out: http://www.theforce.net/swtc/holocaust.html

Very good read about the aftermath of the second death start destruction and its affects on Endor!

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

The death star is not a solid mass... so it's total mass is probably not near the mass of a moon, so it would have significantly less impact as a moon, and would therefore have to be that much closer in order to have effect.

But if it was that much closer to a planet then it would effected by the planets own gravity, and would either have to orbit, or be dragged in and crash!

Finally, the tides are created by the orbiting moon, so it would have to orbit to have a big effect!

 

[Ix Rebound]

lol there wouldn't be a planet left to have tides XD

 

[teqrevisited]

Well it definitely affected the tides on Alderaan.

Maybe. I couldn't really say past any assumptions drawn up from armchair physics.

 

[Lucane]

I am not a physicist nor a big Star Wars fan so I might not be right here.
I don't think it would have a lot to say for the tides. The Deah Star is big, but not as big as our moon, it's also hollow meaning that it doesn't have that much mass compared to the moon either. My guess is that if it does have any impact it will be minimal unless there's some space magic giving it a stronger gravity field.

Whelp that's everything and more that I'd of said but as far as space magic goes I was thinking what ever is generating the Death Star's Artificial Gravity though I don't see how a system like that could influence something so far out that it could effect a nearby planet.

Also Spacecraft never seem to have issues with gravity compensation when they near or depart from the Death Star.(Tractor Beams not included.)