Photon Torpedoes, What Are They? Explained!! -Animations included!

[@bobcarn]

When matter and antimatter react, they release an explosion of photons. Hence, photon torpedos. And it sounds cool.

[@outside7]

Then there came First Contact with its quantum torpedos. Sounded even cooler. :D

[@thomashernandez1004]

This is actually amazing, because it's not a very widely know fact. Showing how much of real science enthusiasts the original creators were!

[@cursedcanine8414]

@@outside7 quantom torpedoes are warp plasma ternd into a solid with solid plasma being a quantom energe hense quantom torpedoes

[@cross3052]

Also, this energy release will cause secondary detonation of the targets hull material. The metal literally explodes at the molecular level. Ka-BOOM!

[@kennethferland5579]

I've always assumed the 'twinkle' is an incredibly intensive shield, because we never EVER see a photon torpedo be shot down despite the copious beam weaponry available to all sides.

[@Idazmi7]

Also, photon torpedoes are shown to be opaque.

[@seanm4095]

Ah these things don't have a warp drive but can move at warp speed if the ship they are fired from is moving at Warp Speed due to something called a "Warp Generater" even a Kligon would have trouble targering that.

[@TimJCOOL-ng8pu]

In star trek 2: the wrath of khan. Kirk commands all power to phasers as a torpedo closes. Spock responds to late. In other words they can be shot down.

[@davidedens6353]

When matter and antimatter react there is a massive release of gama rays in the form of photons.

[@JohnnyKronaz]

photons in the form of gamma rays. Just a little reversal there ;-)

[@Evan_Bell]

As opposed to gamma in some other form...?

[@Evan_Bell]

@ZoneFighter1 that's a stupid statement. Inside an average banana, there's matter-anti matter reaction occurring every 2 hours..

[@Sys-Edit0r-1995]

David Edens That makes me think of cherenkov radiation or the blue light you see come off of a nuclear research reactor. The gama rays move faster than light (in water) and they create a 'sonic boom' (or would that be a photonic boom?) effect that we can see it in the visible light spectrum.

[@Evan_Bell]

@@Sys-Edit0r-1995 gamma travellinf faster than light? Gammas are light. Cherenkov radiation is caused by electrons.

[@captainobvious9233]

My Theory on the name - They thought "Photon Torpedo" it sounded cooler than "Antimatter Torpedo".

[@Idazmi7]

Thank you, "Captain Obvious".

[@stevefelten1197]

But in Enterprise they only had antimatter torpedoes which were nothing more than a missile.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@@stevefelten1197 Nope, the spatial torpedos were fusion bombs.

[@DogsRNice]

Maybe it’s a code name that stuck around Like the word “tank” for armored treaded vehicles in reality

[@Mew178]

This especially since the show as a Sci fi show in 1966 where the word Photon was cool as were all the other nuclear sounding words.

[@darthglobe4285]

When antimatter-matter annihilation occurs, electromagnetic rays are emitted in almost all the spectrum band from radio waves to gamma rays . In physics, as per quantum theory, all EM RAYS/WAVES are made up of photons. I believe that that is where the name comes from. As for the range of torpedo, you are correct. There is a reason why Worf is always tinkering with the torpedo guidance system.

[@WolverinStudio]

Good answer and ultimately correct within current theory. However, such a reason could only be explained if Roddenberry had some form of technical advisor during the production of TOS, or had knowledge or access to some of the top brains regarding quantum and particle physics of the time. Berkley was just up-state and CalTech in Pasadena, so it is possible.

[@richardgordon8110]

Darth Globe WHAT ARE YOU A GRADUATE OF STARFLEET ACADEMY IN NUCLEAR PHYSICS?????

[@anteconfig5391]

I was just about to say the same thing.

[@anteconfig5391]

@Liberty Tree Right, but gamma rays are photons and photons are in constant motion(fleeing from the source) and the intensity of that radiation diminishes with the inverse square law. But, you might be right about them being able to control gamma radiation because the engineering room would be flooded with gamma rays from the warp core.

[@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870]

@Liberty Tree It's likely less them containing gamma radiation and more them being able to transform it into useful energy.

[@CaneMcKeyton]

The out of universe explanation for why they're called photon torpedoes is because in the 1960's it as thought most of the energy from a matter antimatter reaction would be in the form of a shower of photons.

[@Plasmacore_V]

I guess they blind them with science, literally.

[@concretedragon6741]

And they wern't wrong about that assumption.

[@TheSporelord01]

They were correct as proven in CERN. A matter/antimatter reaction produces electromagnetic radiation as a reaction product. The energy carrying particle of electromagnetism is the Photon, which, in the case of a matter/antimatter reaction, is a "gamma ray", a general term for the highest energy photons. There are several excellent writeups on the exact physics of a matter/antimatter reaction, but here are the top-level details: 1. Atoms and anti-atoms are almost certainly required. Simply using electrons and positrons is insufficient due to the energy levels produced - they're so high that they fly through matter without interacting. 2. Simply using E=mc^2 to calculate yield is overly simplistic and significantly overestimates the destructive yield. Much of the energy of any photon torpedo will be lost as high-energy gamma rays that don't interact with the target. 3. Showing photon torpedoes as "hull breakers" is correct. Since shields on the Star Trek are shown to be able to deflect gamma rays, a torpedo would not be particularly effective if it strikes a shielded target. 4. Premixing the payload is a good idea if they can be kept from reacting for a short time. 5. Primary torpedo detonation is not inherently destructive. The torpedo gets it power by imparting massive amounts of energy (read: heat) into surrounding matter in a distributed region. This means that within a radius of a few hundred meters (so basically the entire ship), the hull, air, crew, etc instantly being heated to millions of degrees, resulting in essentially the entire ship blowing itself up from its own internal heat.

[@jhmcd2]

Yeah, I was going to say something like that. Early on they also use to call anti-matter partials photons or something similar. It also sounds cool.

[@seanhiatt6736]

Gamma rays are the main byproduct of antimatter reactions. These entergetic photons are highly destructive.

[@AlexanderDraconis]

I just love how on track Gene was with some of the sci-fi gadgetry he wrote up. Clever guy, must have read a lot.

[@kevinpogue7294]

Gene did read a lot of science fiction, and some of those authors wound up writing for the show. They also consulted with scientists and engineers at JPL and NASA.

[@jalan8171]

When Star Trek TOS introduced the photon torpedo, Roddenberry and the other producers probably thought the name was simply futuristic and had little concept of what would make one actually function. As time passed more scientifically minded people began speculating as how such a weapon could actually work. ST Enterprise put into the canon timeline that the Federation acquired Photon Torpedo technology from the Klingons during a rescue of one of their ships. Now we have the benefit of your presentation and postulation as to how a photon torpedo would work if only we were so determined as was J. Robert Oppenheimer and General Groves were during the Manhattan project. Yikes!

[@Lrofmaulol]

Photon torpedo: It kind of makes sense naming wise, as the energy released by a matter/anti-matter reaction is mostly high energy photons (x-rays, gamma rays and every other form of radiation are all still photons. Exceptions of course are actual nuclear ('nucleic'?) radiation like neutron, alpha- and beta-rays) Now, antimatter torpedo still makes more sense to me thinking about it, but I haven't questioned the name 'photon torpedo' because it still makes sense.

[@jhmcd2]

If I recall, the fuel levels of the torpedo were not the reasons for the Enterprise not wanting to launch weapons at close range, but their explosive yield. The NX-01 Enterprise had the same concern with their 1st generation torpedoes and their didn't use antimatter. But still, this is one weapon where it proves that Star Trek ships are probably some of the toughest in sci-fi.

[@homelessend8557]

Jame M and don't forget the enterprise shrugged off hits from the Doomsday Machine while being unsheilded

[@Codaaaa1187]

i hate how inconsistent this stuff is though. a couple hundred gigawatts was enough to totally disable the shields of the Enterprise D., however, a 1 megaton nuke is well beyond 1.045e+22 watts, that's 10,450,000,000,000,000,000,000, compared to a measly 400,000,000,000, and due to the nature of the void the energy in both cases would pretty much be only released through radiation. mathematically speaking this shit is wack. so, the only thing tough about these ships would be their plot armor

[@homelessend8557]

@@Codaaaa1187 400 gigawatts of what? Over what time interval? Under what circumstances? You do realize in that episode, the Enterprise was attacked by a being almost as powerful as the Q, right?

[@Codaaaa1187]

400 gigawatts of "pure particle energy" which is stupid because energy is energy, over about 3 seconds. and while I'm not doubting the power of the being, the power of its' attack was specifically stated. just because a Q could throw a punch that would be able to vaporize a moon doesn't mean every punch would vaporize a moon.

[@jhmcd2]

Part of what makes a weapon effective isn't its outright power, but its delivery system. A Hiroshima sized nuke can (and did) easily destroy a city, but can't damage a bunker just a few dozen feet below the ground. Heck, it didn't even damage the sewers below Hirosima. Yet, a modern bunker buster can easily destroy a bunker 50 feet plus below the ground. The ship that attacked the enterprise that gave that energy number was a mega powerful alien race that the Federation hadn't encountered before, all produced by a mega powerful alien whose powers rivaled the Q, so he could have easily made sure that the weapons were the right type to deliver 100% of that energy into the ship's shields. The torpedo however is not a focused energy weapon, so only a portion of the energy would be transferred into the shields. But yes, it would be nice if they would have thought through these numbers long before they actually put them on screen.

[@markarich159]

The reason they are called photon torpedoes stems back from the original Star Trek series. Gene Roddenberry called them photon torpedoes because he envisioned them as a torpedo consisting of a conglomeration of high powered photons, basically crushed together inside some type of magnetic field. When they changed the configuration to a matter, antimatter weapon, the name photon torpedo just stuck.

[@retluoc]

One of the best lines in all the Trek Movies was when Spock and McCoy were turning that torpedo into a "gas seeker", and McCoy said about the enemy General (played by Plummer), "I'd give real money if he'd just shut up!"

[@DelcoRanz93]

The Reason they're referred to as Photon Torpedoes is due to the Gamma Ray Photons emitted during the Matter/Antimatter detonation.

[@Lloyd-Black]

This is the first time I came across your channel but I really enjoyed your video. I too was really curious about photon torpedoes. So, thank you for your time and effort in making this. It was worth watching. I rarely make comments but since you're not able to make many videos due to time and having a real life I wanted to thank you for making this good video.

[@donnieraysharp6985]

When matter and anti-matter contact, they release energy. That energy is in the form of photons, which is the smallest measure of the electromagnetic spectrum (not just visible light). That's why it's called a photon torpedo... it creates a huge explosion of photons.

[@The_Notorious_N.O.E.]

A lifetime of watching TREK and only now do I finally understand these staples in the TREK universe. Thank you so much

[@zedwms]

"it's all photons and force fields." --The Doctor, Star Trek: Voyager

[@creditsunknown7974]

Zed Williams that's just *_orb_* flash light

[@viperregained69420]

Always has been

[@1701spacecadet]

Another example of Star Trek being ahead of science. Mobile communications that fit in a pocket, diagnostic imaging, etc.

[@michaelmccormick7005]

Everyone has photon torpedoes, they're called flashlights.

[@tomhewitt8017]

Pretty low yield though

[@noptraptor9364]

I recall in the Star Trek boardgame advanced ship rules that there were three basic types of photon torpedoes: A standard torpedo did a good amount of damage at nearly any range. Proximity torpedoes fired much farther and armed slightly later as they were meant to explode if they were even near a ship at (preferably) long ranges. The last was the most popular for all-out combat and was an overloaded photon torpedo, however; this last type required a lot of warp power from the ship as extra matter/antimatter were injected into the torpedo. The game was set in the original TV series timeline and DID have nuclear missiles and missile using ships, but an overloaded photon torpedo (which did shorten its range because it rendered the electro-magnetic field less stable) did more damage than any of the nuclear missiles could. Just some info that was likely changed over time or not made canon but I always was impressed that one overloaded torpedo would destroy any ships full section of shields and still do damage unless that shield was reinforced to its max, then it'd have a couple points left. They were monsters in a fun game.

[@noptraptor9364]

John Wang The advance rules (which read like building a home entertainment system lol) allowed for turn based decisions but all ships had high energy turns and emergency deceleration (which I liked, it kept the players on their toes) I did like the strategy of planning out all 28 turns ahead of time but they did a good job of switching it up by having nearly every system and subsystem take a certain number of turns to take effect before use. Had a player that lived for overloaded torpedoes and in a prolonged fight he diverted all phasers to help his shields and overloads only for the enemy to HET after firing mid ranged weapons and missiles, then speed away. Never seen someone so mad for not having phasers to shoot down missiles lol. Both versions were really fun, though. I never could use all the rules from advanced; just too many exceptions for any rule unless a and b were in play within 5 turns of declaring, etc... but I used most of them. Miss running that game. Actually I ran over 50 pencil and paper RPGs as well as a few board games. My friends took advantage of my very good memory, though I found ways to play good npcs without ruining things or having my character know more than they should. Those were fun times!

[@harvbegal6868]

The photon torpedo was actual balls of destructive light, hence photons. It wasn't until Wrath of Khan that they decided to make photon torpedoes a physical thing with casings, warheads and such. I know im nerdy af.

[@Idazmi7]

+Harv Bengal Actually, photon torpedoes were launched from physical tubes in the original Star Trek, and could be used as mines and set for proximity fuse: they were always physical.

[@rjonboy7608]

Harv Begal want to get nerdy? Just because it looked like a glowing dot doesn't mean there wasn't a physical torpedo containing the antimatter in a magnetic bottle, which would have to be maintained until desired impact. One great way to do that is a red force field which could protect the payload from insult during the trip. Why red? Why not? 😎

[@DennisThonyPedersen]

So if i swear at a proton torpedo without a red force field I will hurt its feelings ;).

[@lezzman]

I remember reading in (I think) a Star Trek Technical Manual that a photon torpedo can have the warhead replaced with a sensor array and fired to be used as a probe to get information on distant objects considered unworthy of changing course for or too dangerous for the ship to approach (e.g. as in "The Immunity Syndrome").

[@LordKhyron85]

Having a proximity detonation ability doesn't mean they were physical. Recall that in Balance of Terror, *phaser* were set to proximity blast.

[@thudthedestroyer515]

There was an explanation on one of the old star trek documentaries that was not as technical as some of the conversations below. They simply needed a weapon that they could fire at warp speed. Theoretically, energy beams travel at light speed. If you are traveling faster than light, the energy would never leave the end of the laser emitter, because you would overtake that point in space before the energy could hit its target. The explosive power, and versatility not withstanding are all valid discussions, but the advent of had to do with having that weapon capable of faster then light travel.

[@alex_saint-matthews]

NORTHAMPTON CLASS!!!!!!!!!!!! Good God above I thought I was the only one left in the fandom that even remembered that design! Another favorite of mine being the Chandley class-Long Live the Blackheart! Mini shoutout to the Larson Class as well, as they were in the same tech manual-it’s truly a shame most of the designs in that book never really got used on film.

[@resurrectedstarships]

Adam Parker there's links to my take on those ships in the description if you'd like to see more.

[@sivalon1]

And the Romulan “Bright One” destroyer.

[@rommelstar1]

We also played ST-SCS, but the North Hamton, though a cool design and powerful ship, usually didn't fit our style of forward attack as it had many of it's weapons spread around to cover the aft as well. It was a good choice when operating in Romulan space though.

[@masonkane5884]

I'm not even a huge Trek fan but I love videos like this.

[@BR-cq2hm]

There was an episode of ENT where a Klingon referred to a torpedo as 'an antimatter warhead'.

[@vasudeva01]

Hey Resurrected Starships, 0:48 antimatter is not like a "spark" in your analogy here. Matter and antimatter are both the fuel of the reaction, and combining them annihilates BOTH. Neither of these is like the spark, both are fuel - they only need to be combined for both forms of matter to be converted into energy at once.

[@kjamison5951]

"The thing's gotta have a tail pipe!"

[@TairnKA]

Is the reason for using mirrored images (notably @5:27 to 5:50) because of copyrights? "All of the above".

[@muninrob]

Matter / antimatter reactions turn both masses into energy in the form of gamma radiation - gamma radiation = high energy photons

[@luisoyola1158]

I like how you used a Northhampton class starship and a Baker class refit with a romulan movie era ship... nicely done!!!

[@resurrectedstarships]

Thank you, there was no baker in there, I think you meant the Larson class; Yup I love bringing back the old but awesome designs. I'll put links to them in the description.

[@luisoyola1158]

shit .. you are right I got my ship classes mixed up lol

[@rommelstar1]

The Romulan ship was a "Bright One" ( I forgot the Romulan name translation) destroyer class from FASA- Starship Combat Simulator. I used it often as it had a forward photon torpedo instead of a plasma weapon.

[@PedalingPrince]

As I recall from the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, photon torpedoes do NOT use their warhead antimatter as fuel, at least not in their standard configuration. Standard photon torpedoes, Next Gen era, have a maximum effective tactical range of 3.5 million kilometers. However, that range can be EXTENDED by ALLOWING the photon torpedo to use its antimatter warhead to supplement its fuel. Such a torpedo would, presumably, have maximum yield over its standard 3.5 kilometer range and FROM THERE would begin to fall off in destructive power as it used its warhead for fuel. The reason photon torpedoes can be detonated at longer ranges from the firing ship safely is simply because the explosion would, of course, be limited in size and would lose energy as it traveled; after a point, even at maximum yield, a torpedo would eventually be far away enough that the explosion could be absorbed by the firing ship's shields.

[@FredtheDorfDorfman1985]

PedalingPrince exactly. Just like Phasers the yield, and destructive power, would rapidly decrease as range increases. That's why targets at great range have to be pounded with multiple hits just to weaken their shielding enough to get to their hull plating. The densified Duranium shell of the torpedo acts like a powerful bullet that can punch through hull plating as long as it's still carrying enough kinetic energy, but the power of its detonation will depend on the distance it had to travel to impact that target.

[@kirkhamandy]

I don't want to be funny but exactly how much anti-matter would be drained from the warhead for propulsion? Answer, almost bugger all, so it's hardly going to deplete the warhead unless your target is the other side of the galaxy

[@rondevrind7655]

It seems to me that a photon torpedo has unlimited range. Once fired it would keep going. Why would it need to use antimatter fuel to extend its range ? Tactical range would imply the maximum range at which you would still be able to hit a moving target with a reasonable chance.

[@sailordolly]

@@rondevrind7655 Without using fuel it would continue going--in a straight line at sublight speed. For warp speed or any form of steering (e.g. to track an evading target), it needs to use its propulsion system.

[@Custerd1]

And of course in the JJverse, the Federation could fire photon torpedoes clear across the galaxy to the Klingon provinces. Oh, and transport over there, too. BAH!!

[@jeffhallam2004]

Good video and I also like photon torpedoes and my favorite Romulan ship is also yours! Looking forward to that video!

[@komradewirelesscaller6716]

Photon torpedoes sounds more cool for some reason than anti-matter torpedoes.

[@Vipre-]

Originally, I believe, "Photon Torpedoes" were just a ship Phaser setting and that's where the name comes from. It wasn't until ST2 that they were given physical form so Spock could have a coffin.

[@DavidWatersJames]

TRANSPHASIC TORPEDOS : Think Quantum Torpedo, but "out of phase" with normal space/matter until detonation. They can't be stopped with normal shields, or hull materials. they can literally penetrate to vital Target areas, before exploding with Quantum-Level Force. Hence, one Torpedo = one Target destroyed. The only DEFENSE would be to shift "out of phase" before detonation. (like the Federation, Phased-Cloak).

[@LordZontar]

The Memory Alpha website has this to say on the development of the photon torpedo concept in Star Trek: "Photon torpedoes were introduced fairly late into the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series. They made their on-screen debut in the 19th episode of the series, "Arena". Before that, when the USS Enterprise fired shots that looked like globular bursts, they were identified in dialogue as proximity blasts from the phasers, as in "Balance of Terror". In fact, the early writer's guide, The Star Trek Guide, made no mention of the ship having photon torpedo armaments. [2] The sound of the proximity blasts (and subsequently the photon torpedoes) firing was that of the"skeleton beam" from the 1953 film The War of the Worlds. The 1968 reference book The Making of Star Trek (p. 194), gave this early description of the photon torpedo: "…photon torpedoes, which are energy pods of matter and anti-matter contained and held temporarily separated in a magno-photon force field. These can be used as torpedoes or depth charges, and can be set with electrochemical, proximity, and a variety of other fuses. Photon torpedoes can be fired directly at a target, laid out as a minefield, or scattered in an attacker's path as depth charges." However, the earlier 1967 episode "Obsession" seemed to contradict the whole notion that there was antimatter in these photon torpedoes. In the story, the Enterprise crew attempt to destroy the Dikironium cloud creature by exploding photon torpedoes inside it, when that had no effect, they turn to the most powerful weapon available at that time: an ounce of antimatter to produce a matter-antimatter blast to destroy the creature. The idea that the photon torpedoes themselves had physical missile-like casing was never confirmed on screen during The Original Series. The idea of distinct "launchers" (or "tubes") for the torpedoes was first introduced in the second season episode, "The Changeling", as "torpedo number 2" was fired instead of just a "torpedo bank being discharged". Even as late as Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Andrew Probert did not envision the photon torpedo to be a capsule, as he says in his 2005 Trekplace interview: "I envisioned them as what we saw during the TV era, they were glowing globs of plasma or some sort of energy. They weren't giant capsules. I envision them as big, glowy, dangerous blobs of… scariness." [3] Photon torpedoes were definitely weapons with physical missile casings by the time of the 1982 feature film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Furthermore, the special effect of a torpedo launched with a warhead and one launched as a coffin was completely different in the film. The first on-screen connection between photon torpedoes and antimatter came in 1989, in the second season episode "Samaritan Snare" of Star Trek: The Next Generation and it was not established until 1991, in the fourth season episode "Half a Life", that photon torpedoes had in fact deflector shields of their own." memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Photon_torpedo

[@starsiegeplayer]

Antimatter torpedoes are a retcon. Probert was quoted in an interview that the physical torpedo was added into TMP later by someone else. He thought of them as big glowing balls of "scariness"

[@KenoshiAkai]

I thought it was in The Wrath of Khan that Photon Torpedoes were retconned into being physical warheads, so they could have an excuse to have a torpedo room and so they could use a casing as a convenient coffin for when they killed Spock off. But in any case, yeah, they were originally envisioned as purely energy weapons that could explode at a range.

[@starsiegeplayer]

Patrick Bright TWOK was the first time we saw the physical warheads, but according to Probert, Checkov's tactical display in TMP had an ammo counter for torpedoes. This was designed by someone other than himself .

[@KenoshiAkai]

Ah, I did not know that. Good catch there.

[@Thane36425]

It might have been "Undiscovered Country" where they talked about doing a physical inventory on the number of torpedoes in storage vs. the computer tally. Some older manuals also mentioned the limited supply of torpedoes on the ships.

[@Idazmi7]

_"Antimatter torpedoes are a retcon. Probert was quoted in an interview that the physical torpedo was added into TMP later by someone else. He thought of them as big glowing balls of "scariness""_ Probert obviously didn't watch TOS, there photon torpedoes were always being "loaded" into "tubes".

[@Brainchild69]

Deuterium is not liquid hydrogen, it is what is referred to as 'heavy' hydrogen, because is has a neutron in the nucleus of the atom. It CAN be turned into a liquid by refrigeration or compression, just as regular hydrogen can, but the word does not refer to liquid hydrogen. That being said, GREAT VIDEO! Keep doing these!

[@JohnnyKronaz]

I mean, when matter and antimatter annihilate, they output photons. I thought it was pretty self-explanatory.

[@ericstaples7220]

Every explosion emits light. That's not much of a reasoning.

[@vicpalushaj]

😂 your not as smart as you think. They should call spot lights photon lights...... Also my flashlight is now a photon emitter. Oh and my headlights on my car are now photon.heads?

[@tiagotiagot]

@@ericstaples7220 Yes, but most explosions aren't composed almost exclusively or light

[@ericstaples7220]

@@tiagotiagot All nuclear explosions emit mostly photons. That's not the reason anti-matter bombs are called photon torpedoes on the show.

[@deniseherud]

The question of why ships weren't annihilated when hit with shields down is best explained by either a)plot device and/or b)structural integrity fields and hull composition. While the blast from the explosion would rip a hole in the ship, the hull composite alloys are much stronger than anything we can create now. Using structural integrity field waveguides, the ships EPS could reinforce impacted areas and provide energy to containment "force fields" and an electrical type charge directly to the hull materials, increasing their metallurgical strength by some magnitude. So while the energetic output of torps is massive, so too is the strength of the hull material and its multiple layers and structural integrity field...I'm sure this is why the Enterprise C is shown having been pummeled by Romulans but not destroyed(initially). Very thoroughly researched vid and luv ur animations--awesome work!👍🏻💗

[@barrybend7189]

Hey can you please do videos on the variable fighters from SDF Macross.

[@6stringsbrainfingers]

I am a huge Star Trek fan, but I never knew photon torpedoes were actual physical things in the shape of a torpedo. I thought there were just another form of phasers that just produce destructive energy in a torpedo type way. I learned something new today, thanks for the video!

[@vichodeivis1219]

I need a photon torpedo. And a hammer. Its for a school project :3

[@resurrectedstarships]

Good se I put this video under the category of Education for you kiddos who have science classes.

[@FredtheDorfDorfman1985]

If you're talking about seeing how many whacks it takes to get to the shiney center of a photon torpedo warhead, the good news is that at 64 megatons neither you, your class, your school, or town would be alive long enough to feel any pain when it went off. You would all be vaporized by the millions of degree gamma rays before the pain impulses could reach your brains. Of course you wouldn't know when the torpedo went off either since you'd be vaporized before the sound and light impulses from your ears and eyes could reach the brain as well. So I think that experiment would fall under let's not and just say we did. Not that it would matter anyway because the torpedo's dense "duranium bullet" shell would break your hammer long before you made the slightest scratch, and the sensor equipped electronic detonator system would have to sense the target, then detonate according to what setting it was set to, proximity burst, point detonation, or delayed penetrator detonation.

[@jasonalen7459]

"Don't come to school tomorrow" taken to the next level

[@thudthedestroyer515]

I think we all need to take a deep breath and consider some diplomacy! Be like Picard and not Kirk! This terrorist sh-t has to stop! Let's all meet in the conference room and share some Aldebaran whiskey and blaze up a space-doobie, while we negotiate a peaceful compromise... Let us begin it here and now!

[@DeathBYDesign666]

Yeah it's because of the release of photons at the point of detonation. Think of it like a laser made up of high energy photons, but instead of a beam it's being being released in an omnidirectional pattern. Though a quantum torpedo does much the same thing, it's energy is pinched off and shunted into another dimension and at the point of detonation where it's allowed to build up without destroying the warhead, thus being released back into our dimension with far greater energy. At least that's how I have heard them described.

[@stephenshelton4267]

I've heard that they mix antimatter and matter as you state, that that should result in incredible destructive force but does anyone remember that episode of Voyager where Janeway was facilitating peace talks between the Kazon and the Trabe and Voyager fired photon torpedos at a Trabe ship that was within the atmosphere of a planet right outside of the conference building holding the talks? I kept thinking that should have destroyed the ecosystem of the entire planet for a millennia.

[@Idazmi7]

You do realize that photon torpedoes have adjustable yields? This is referenced onscreen countless times.

[@connorhorman]

photon torpedoes also have an on-board computer, similar to that of a shuttle or probe. They can be controlled from the firing starship, and even commanded to self-destruct or prematurely detonate

[@mr.tweaty]

“Majik”

[@smugfrog8111]

That's true with modern missiles as well.

[@stevenp3176]

How come a unshielded ship can often survive a torpedo hit if they’re as powerful as stated?

[@wattsmith2656]

Steve Pounder There ships are made of a something we haven't discovered/invented yet that is tougher, harder, and more refractory then anything known to human kind at this time.

[@stevenp3176]

watt smith I have no doubt there’s better materials and construction designs but it’s a bit much to assume the ship without shields would ensure multiple hits from destructive devices that are so powerful. But it’s also just science fiction.

[@wattsmith2656]

It's moot, but considering the things that have survived small nuclear explosions I'd imagine a star ship could be a thousand times tougher than, say, a bank vault that survived Hiroshima.

[@stevenp3176]

watt smith That is true. I guess I can’t see something surviving at ground zero so to speak. Especially a antimatter explosion.

[@Idazmi7]

+Steve Pounder People underestimate Star Trek's hull armor... by a lot.

[@ralfhtg1056]

And now please a video of this kind about Quantum torpedoes and the Tricobalt device!

[@CFSlayer23Studios50423]

How do quantum torpedoes work?

[@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870]

Caleb Fossett Instead of an anti-matter warhead Quantum torpedos use a Zero Point Energy Extractor. When they are near the target they start extracting energy from the vacuum until they overload and, when hitting the target, explode.

[@bellvnv2000]

Caleb Fossett Very well . Thank you for asking ! 😜

[@FredtheDorfDorfman1985]

Caleb Fossett the Quantum Torpedo was designed as an anti-Borg weapon. I heard someone say that they use contained quantum filament warheads. I don't know if this is true or not, but sounds interesting. Enterprise D encountered a naturally occurring quantum filament that knocked out their navigation shields, their power, and even threatened a failure of their antimatter containment. It was the episode called "Disaster," where Picard was trapped in a turbolift with some children that were the winners of a science fair contest. It was later realized that the destructive power of the quantum filament could be harnessed as a weapon if a large enough filament were contained in such a small space as in a torpedo's warhead. The detonation of that warhead released so much zero point energy that it would be extremely destructive, even to the advanced regeneration capable Borg vessels. The Quantum Torpedo was made obsolete by the Transphasic Torpedo that Admiral Janeway designed as the ultimate anti-Borg weapon. The Transphasic Torpedo phases out of our space-time continuum until it enters the target, (Borg Cube,) then re-phases back into our space-time continuum and detonates with over 400 megatons of destructive force.

[@bellvnv2000]

strontiumXnitrate Also replicators, transporters, force fields and just how Humanity got it shit together after a global nuclear war because of some guy invented 'light speed' and aliens took an interest in us because....."reasons", and did all this without anybody asking for a PAYCHECK ! It's poor man's writing 101 . When you write yourself into a corner, just ignore the fact that you put yourself there ! The kitchen is not on fire that's...."the Aurora Borealis" ! 😜

[@DavidLemmo]

@@bellvnv2000, post WWIII Earth was pretty much a blank slate. The Vulcans did more to influence and build up Pre Federation United Earth than Humanity did. Cochrane's Warp flight in the Phoenix, attracted attention to Earth, from Vulcans who previously only watched it's civilization from a distance. Given the monastic nature of Vulcan attire, and their perpetual even temper, Earth trusted them and formed an alliance which led to rapid cultural maturation, within two centuries.

[@jakesavage1680]

Photon torpedos have always reminded me of coffins, which is very appropriate given their destructive power! I'm sure that if we had photon torpedos today we would have annihilated ourselves, thankfully this is sci-fi for now, but who knows maybe it will inspire some physicists to actually make it a reality, like cellphones (communicators) and i-pads.

[@slap_my_hand]

Why not attach propulsion systems to warp cores? When a ship is about to be destroyed, the warp core could be used as a giant photon torpedo.

[@rjonboy7608]

slap_my_hand Essentially, that is a photon torpedo. A very clumsy and expensive one used as a dramatic plot device all too often. First, warp cores are very expensive. The jettisoning of one would be the last resort to save a crippled ship, not one really in condition to take the time to aim it. The loss of its warp core would likely mean the ship is beyond repair. Second, with the amount of energy and Baryonic particles involved in that size, that intensity of reaction would hammer all ships especially the one now on aux power. It would really be a suicide gesture. Third, having many torpedoes is tactical. One big bomb is doomsday. Trek doesn't (didn't before STD) doom.

[@zeph0shade]

Also regardless how much doom it is, you're talking about an "if I'm going down I'm taking you with me" weapon and the Federation isn't supposed to have that kind of mentality.

[@FredtheDorfDorfman1985]

A similar tactic was used as a last resort in Star Trek: Insurrection when the Son'a detonated an Isolitic Subspace weapon that created a Subspace tear that followed Enterprise E's warp core like a magnet. In a last resort move Chief Engineer Laforge jettisoned the warp core and detonated it just as it entered the Subspace tear. The resulting explosion sealed the tear and did significant damage to the then warp incapable Enterprise. Once the Son'a were defeated the Enterprise left the Briar Patch at impulse power and then was later towed at warp back to drydock by other Star Fleet vessels.

[@gelatinocyte6270]

@@rjonboy7608 Are photons baryons? I thought they were gauge bosons Do matter-antimatter explosions release something else other than photons that I'm not aware of?

[@Thunderwalker87]

I'm fairly sure the warp core is simply the final mixing chamber which is highly regulated. Which would mean that a warp core breach is when that reaction has stopped being highly regulated and has started to cascade... which because its connected to the fuel line of matter and anti-matter... and theres a lot of it already in there... just cutting it off likely isn't enough and just pushing it out of the ship fast as you can is a good idea. Being not so very regulated means that its just not very effective as a weapon... also not very ethical as a weapon. But why warp core ejection systems don't have a means of pushing the core out faster or at least some maneuvering thrusters on it? I haven't the foggiest...

[@antonnym214]

in 1966 when TOS began using Photon Torpedoes, very few in the audience knew what a photon was. It just sounded cool. I don't think the name is any more complicated than that. Photons are expressed in the spectrum depending on how much energy they're carrying, which is their frequency. Light rays are photonic, yes, but so too are gamma rays and all other electromagnetic radiation. Nice video. All good wishes.

[@Idazmi7]

_"in 1966 when TOS began using Photon Torpedoes, very few in the audience knew what a photon was."_ So no one went to school in 1966?

[@antonnym214]

Idazmi, were you around in '66? I was. I don't know about everyone else, but my experience is that the only people who knew about photons (and indeed other scientific terms like "nanosecond") in those days were science teachers and physicists. The lay public may have heard the word on the odd sci fi show, but didn't know what it was. all good wishes, bro.

[@Idazmi7]

+Anton Nym _"Idazmi, were you around in '66? I was. I don't know about everyone else, but my experience is that the only people who knew about photons (and indeed other scientific terms like "nanosecond") in those days were science teachers and physicists."_ Science teachers. As in: taught students.

[@lordlelouch2379]

Will explain about quantum torpedo

[@resurrectedstarships]

This one...ok my impulse is to say it is still an antimatter weapon, but it is skipping through subspace which allows it to bypass some defense barriers, but i really dont know and need to do some research!

[@90lancaster]

Yeah trust me the explanation for QT's is gobbledegook. Unless you like The Quantum uncertainty principle and Zero-Point energy extraction from an 11 dimensional quantum membranes manipulated to form a topology string via a continuum distortion emitter to extract a pinched membrane from the vacuum and convert to an explosive yield of sub atomic particles that is. But yes they do use anti-matter explosives as the detonator for a "Quantum Warhead" They do seem VERY tuneable though in terms of yield from less than a Photon's minimal yield to more. But they seem to do more secondary damage at high yields and could be tuned as a form of concussive weapon or even as non-lethal but disabling effect on a ship. So yes they are powerful but they are also very flexible - I think they use them in default setting to blow stuff up though most of the time. I can't state this conclusively - but I get the impression they penetrate a target and shield better and are also much faster flying. which suggests they are extracting zero point energy for propulsion - or they have a new ejection mechanism which is far faster.

[@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870]

David Figueroa Quantum Torpedos replace the anti-matter/matter warhead with a Zero Point Energy Extractor. This means that instead of using the energy produced by the reaction between matter and anti-matter to damage the internal of an enemy ship a quantum torpedo will extract as much energy as possible from the vacuum of space before overloading and exploding.

[@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870]

Resurrected Starships Those are Pulse torpedos, anti-matter torpedos that when exploding briefly phase out of reality bypassing shields but only damaging the external of a ship.

[@JoelFeila]

that's a transphasic torpedo

[@1111MJR]

Maybe in the late 60’s, most people watching wouldn’t really have understood antimatter but they would have vaguely about photons and that sounded cool and science fictioney enough.

[@Thrawn1]

your video has answer a lot of questions but also one that has me confused how does spreads work. when worf is told to fire a spread of torpedoes 4 come out but they are tightly packed they split. What the hell this is so odd.

[@randybentley2633]

As was said, torpedoes can be shot down or avoided. With a spread, the various torps go out at various angles and then veer towards the target, making them both hard to target and avoid.

[@resurrectedstarships]

Yeah they certainly have launchers on the End D and probably the Nebula, Sovereign, etc, than can launch up to 6 torpedoes in a spread. I always thought this was really cool.

[@90lancaster]

Multiple Torpedoes fired in a cluster from a single large aperture launcher at the same time or fired in quick succession is a spread. Typically the Enterprise D would fire 3-to5 and 3 was pretty much standard on Voyager but they had 2 tubes so sometimes that was 6 torpedoes. But they were lazy in the script about any distinction between full spread and double spread. Not to mention Voyager repeatedly fires torpedoes from places it doesn't have launchers. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnqqqYB7g9ykZ80

[@ilejovcevski79]

During the times of the TNG TM (technical manual) it was mentioned that the torpedo tubes on the Galaxy class could fire (and be preloaded) with as much as 10 torpedoes. This would mean a torpedo spread could be as large as 10 torpedoes at the time. It's been ages since i've watched any TNG, but if memory serves, the most they ever fired in the episodes was either a 6 torpedo spread, or 2 consecutive 5 torpedo spreads. The point and click adventure game Star Trek - A final unity (my favorite ST ship simulation of all time, and one of my favorite ST games in general), allows you to chose both the size of the salvo and the angle of the spread, resulting in either a burst of single point hitting torpedoes or literally a wide spread. I don't recall if it was ever explained in universe why it was made to work like this. I have two guesses myself: 1. As single torpedoes could be dodged, firing a wide spread would be life firing a shotgun, making sure at least some torpedoes hit; additionally, as each torpedo can be set to proximity detonation, such spreads would be very effective against a swarm of mall and agile targets. 2. Star Trek shields seams to be "intelligent" by design. They don't simply block anything that comes their way, and the computer seams to always detect when something is trying to go through them. I speculate that when an object or a form of energy tries to penetrate a shield, the computer assigns all available energy from the EPS to the emitters (as much as the emitters can handle before collapsing) to counter the threat. Now, if all attacks came at one point, it would be easier both for the computer and the shield grid, to match the threat with proper shield modulation and amplitude (as long as the maximum damage output of the threat doesn't overwhelm the emitters). However, if the threat came from multiple angles at the same time (an enveloping attack), the total number of threats along different points of the shield coupled with the yield of those attacks, might actually result in overwhelming the shield grid, EPS, computer ability to adapt (thus reducing shield efficiency) or all of this together. Just my 2 cents......

[@90lancaster]

5 fore and 5 aft ? or a cluster of 5 in 2 bursts right after each other. Thinking about it there isn't any reason Voyager couldn't keep firing Torpedoes as long as the mechanism can take it. as it has paired launchers it can just keep alternating them for as long as it needs too. It can't take more than a second to reload the tubes and surely they can be reloaded during fire too. ? I guess the only reason not to do that is because they have finite torpedo (allegedly)

[@sagesheahan6732]

Hey Resurrected Starships, I have a request. Youve talked about the torpedoes themselves. But, HOW nare they fired? Pneumatically? Maybe like a railgun? Gas-powered? Is it an anti-gravity cannon? How do those tubes launch their torpedoes?

[@Vimanas.8209]

I think that “Photon” Torpedoes might be a nickname for them. Just like “Stinger” Missiles is used to describe MANPAD Surface to Air Missiles. Just my thoughts 💭 on this.

[@ericstaples7220]

You are correct, however, the nerds on the writing team added the idea that the forcefield surrounding the torpedo is made of something called magno-photons to help add legitimacy to the name.

[@Chicken-x6q6d]

Photon torpedoes aren't supposed to lose firepower no matter how far they are from a target, but plasma torpedoes do, such as the early ones used by the Romulans. This is supposed to be because the plasma comes from the ship itself and a plasma reaction loses intensity over time so the more time it is in flight, the less effective it will be against a target. Or so an old ST game manual said.

[@Idazmi7]

That old ST game manual is correct. It's expressly mentioned and shown in _Balance of Terror_ that the Romulan torpedoes lose energy as they travel.

[@SpocksFridayNights]

I love that every comment is explaining what a “proton torpedo” is. we get it lmao.

[@starcloakstarside9719]

zero Fair. The Klingons used Proton Torpedoes. Also autocorrect sucks ass. Your move.

[@SpocksFridayNights]

Starcloak Starside lol your point being? I know they used proton torpedos.

[@NetVoyagerOne]

The fact that they have variable explosive yields is why they can be fired at close range. They are rarely dialed up to their maximum.

[@qdllc]

They are called photon torpedoes as a carryover from when they were just energized plasma bolts. Says so in the Trek technical manuals.

[@Idazmi7]

No it doesn't, in any of them. :/

[@qdllc]

Idazmi7 - IIRC, Mr. Scott’s Guide to the Enterprise. Sanctioned by Paramount Studios. If I still had my copy, I could verify, but I know it was in one of the technical manuals (circa 1990s).

[@Idazmi7]

Mr Scott's Guide to the Enterprise is factually the _worst_ of the "technical manuals", as it's the only one written by a fan with _zero_ technical knowledge.

[@qdllc]

Idazmi7 - Interesting. As Paramount doesn’t hesitate to threaten litigation for copyright infringement, I would not expect a high profile publication to ever see publication if Paramount didn’t approve it.

[@Idazmi7]

+qdllc They approved it all right: because they could sell it. Not because it made any sense.

[@randyg22152]

I assume that the reason that they were originally called “photon torpedoes” is that the writers of the original series assumed that starships would be able to shoot directed energy weapons made up of pure energy, rather than fire physical missiles. The original photon torpedo was probably conceived to be literally just a bundle of high energy photons. In fact, in the episode, “Balance of Terror”, what we now know as photon torpedos we’re actually called “phasers” (go watch it again). It wasn’t until later episodes that the name “phasers” were given to the continuous energy beams that the Enterprise shot out, and the term “photon torpedo” was given to the discrete bundles of energy shot out. It wasn’t until the movies came out that the concept of the “photon torpedo” was changed to be some type of guided missile with an anti-matter warhead. Basically, the writers of the show have no idea what a “photon torpedo” is, and every time a new batch of writers are hired, they change their mind about some of the futuristic concepts shown on the show, since no one really knows what they are talking about.

[@randybentley2633]

I have an idea on how to make one of these bad boys even more deadly and effective. Attach a pod to the front of the photon torpedo that contains between 6-8 micro-torpedoes that are connected to their own individual proximity sensor. When the torpedo gets to the trigger point, the micros shoot out ahead of the main body and pepper the shields, weakening them in the process. When the main body hits, the chances of penetration are significantly increased.

[@176bammm]

Actually, In JJ Abramsverse/ ST : Into Darkness...The USS Vengence --Tactical Intel Dreadnought had 2 medium escort size class Assault drone fighter Pods with 5 micro photon torpedoes, pulse/burst Phasers, and the Assault fighter pod itself was a large cruise missile...

[@coatlecue]

Randy Bentley you just described a multiple re-entry nuclear ICMB. It's been around for at most my age 57or so. I'm sure those fellows with the swept brows, green tinge and cool attitude have thought of and chuckled at the idea probably for as long

[@randybentley2633]

Actually its nothing like MIRVs, but your input is appreciated.

[@Idazmi7]

_"I have an idea on how to make one of these bad boys even more deadly and effective. Attach a pod to the front of the photon torpedo that contains between 6-8 micro-torpedoes that are connected to their own individual proximity sensor. When the torpedo gets to the trigger point, the micros shoot out ahead of the main body and pepper the shields, weakening them in the process. When the main body hits, the chances of penetration are significantly increased."_ We have outright seen the Enterprise-D fire those.

[@Lolita327]

Love the inclusion of the FASA ST ships. Nice touch. Perhaps you could add in an Andor-Class?

[@rommelstar1]

Andor. Was that the "missile ship", with 8 torpedo launchers and two forward beam weapons?

[@iona2225]

In Q Who it was said when the Cube was close to Enterprise that firing another volley of torpedoes would destroy the ship.

[@resurrectedstarships]

Yes, and I think the shields were down at that stage. The cube must have been very close indeed.

[@widde4113]

Basically it would be because it's not good to be too close to an explosion either way. Same with torpedoes fired from submarines, if they where to detonate to close it would sink the firing sub.. :3

[@pepperVenge]

Great video. Subbed. And I think you nailed it; they're called photon torpedo's simply because they are very bright when fired.

[@blubbb4143]

I would guess the name comes from photons being released from pairs annihilation of the matter anti matter, would be my guess at the name

[@yemo34]

The inverse Square law would be the best explanation for why Photon Torpedoes tap off with distance. since they would be subject to the most of the same rules that conventional nuclear weapons would be subject to. Any space environment that part of the explosion would have to go, the more energy at loses. The closer the torpedo is to a ship the more energy and can dump into the target. the same way that when a nuclear weapon goes off everything within about a 50 meter radius is completely vaporized. While a mile away things get blown over and set on fire. All the way to a few miles out when it just breaks windows. The density of the infrared and other radiation decreases with distance.

[@cobeoe]

Maybe it's called a photon torpedo because of the bright light in the mix and stuff like that

[@90lancaster]

Quite likely it's called that as it was originally an energy weapon and wasn't a physical object at all until much later (when they needed it to be). They didn't used to be steerable either.

[@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870]

cobeoe It's be because in the 60s scientist believed a matter/anti-matter reaction would produce mostly photons.

[@Idazmi7]

+The First Primaris Cato Sicarius _"It's be because in the 60s scientist believed a matter/anti-matter reaction would produce mostly photons."_ He was right, whoever he was.

[@RedcoatsReturn]

Excellent insight and explanation. One day, it will become true as the conceptual blueprint now exists. The mixing after arming produces colossal amounts of light, spinning as the containment fields do. So you are right! They appear as torpedoes of spinning light.

[@theoriginalonion7545]

The Star Trek universe uses phasers, photon torpedoes, energy shields, not to mention quantum torpedoes, and trands-phasic torpedoes/armor. Then there is species 8472 from fluidic space with weapons that can easily destroy borg ships, and are all but undetectable when they choose to be. The Star Trek universe is just crazy advanced. Star Wars weapons are lasers, with mechanical shielding and armor plating, they are in no way a threat to anyone outside of their universe. I don’t know anything about Babylon 5. Battlestar Galactica technology is worst then Star Wars.

[@youtubevoice1050]

Star Wars has blasters (and light sabers), which are plasma-based weapons - the blasts don't move at the speed of light. The Death star laser is immeasurably powerful. Kyle Hill from "Because science" calculated, that the laser would in fact be so powerful as to kill everyone on the station just due to its recoil! Yes, the recoil of the emitted light! And Star Wars has shield technology, too. It's just all a little less scientific overall.

[@theoriginalonion7545]

KZbinVoice Know anything about Babylon 5?

[@youtubevoice1050]

Babylon 5 has tons of different weapon systems: "heavy particle accelerator cannons", "gravitic fusion pulse cannons", "spinal lasers" and pulse lasers, particle beam/ plasma pulse weapons, rail guns, missiles, ion cannons ... efni.org/weapon.htm Some of those seem to be very destructive.

[@Marcus51090]

Quantum torpedos use zero point energy not anti-mater hence why their more destructive fun fact

[@simpsonfan13]

Eat it trektard. SW "lasers" are not the concentrated light that riker talks about. They're plasma-based particle weapons. Further SW "armor platting" as you call it is so strong that SW ships have no need for pussy-ass "navigational deflectors" like the weak-ass federation. and Ill remind you that the federation used actuall lasers between ENT and TOS.further even the slowest hyperdrive in SW is MASSIVELY faster than warp drive. and WTF is "mechanical shielding"?

[@williamhumes3005]

in the original series photon torpedoes were not antimatter missiles or any missiles at all. they were in fact generated packets of photons contained in fields. The decay of the fields was understood so the range could be set by choosing the strength of the field to start with. They didn't have to hit anything. They were aimed at targets further away than the moon and at that distance the cuncussion shook the ship badly. At TNG ranges of just a few miles the force would naturally be considerably greater. The form of pulsed phaser used on defiant is almost exactly an original series photon torpedo.

[@DeusExAstra]

Realistically getting hit with a photon torpedo without shields should result in the total destruction of a ship. At least if they're supposed to be more powerful than nukes. So, I'm guess they're not because ships have taken multiple shots without shields and not been destroyed. I dont care what material those ships are made of, they're not tanking a nuke going off at point blank range.

[@Heretic451]

Unless you perhaps account for the hull composition being that much more protective by that time in the future with new metals, polymers, and manufacturing techniques.

[@DeusExAstra]

There's no realistic material they could come up with that would do that. Also, we know that without shields, simple kinetic impacts will damage and destroy ship hulls. So a warhead with more destructive power than a nuclear bomb going off right on the hull will totally destroy it, even in space where the blast is less powerful than in an atmosphere.

[@Heretic451]

"There's no realistic material they could come up with that would do that." Um...huh? It's not only science fiction, but it takes place hundreds of years from now. That means anyone could come up with virtually any excuse for just about anything. Or are you thinking of materials that we manufacture right now? Who knows what manner of materials and configuration of those materials will/might exist by then? Take tritanium (memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Tritanium) for instance. "Tritanium was an ore known to be 21.4 times as hard as diamond, " and who knows what else you could mesh and/or layer it with to create the armor in starship hulls? Plus then you have inertial dampening fields to protect the crew from much of the force. See how I just put out a bunch of nerdy sci-fi crap and it sounded good? Good sci-fi uses today's science only as a springboard for things that might be. Hmm, I wonder why the Battlestar Galactica wasn't destroyed when it was directly hit with a Cylon nuke...

[@wattsmith2656]

We have things that can tank a nuke now. There was a gigantic steel case with 14" walls for the trinity bomb if it didn't work and just sprayed radioactive material everywhere called, "jumbo". They didn't use it, but they left it next to the explosion to see what would happen. It survived. Then they tried to destroy it with eight 500 lbs. bombs. that didn't work either. In three hundred years It's likely there will at least be some cermet material that's a bit stronger than steel and probably some sort of graphene silicon composite that is a bit harder than diamond, but far less brittle and that's assuming no brilliant discoveries are made.

[@DeusExAstra]

Heretic451 - Did you miss the part where I pointed out that in Star Trek ships get damaged and destroyed by kinetic impacts without their shields? There have been many occasions where shrapnel, or parts of a ship, fly into another ship and either damage it or completely take it out. Those things would have much less energy than a nuke going off right on the ship. So, it's not a matter of some super-advanced material that can tank a nuke. Also, Trek ships are not the Battlestar Galactica. The Galactica was 1.4 kilometers long and built to take those hits. So, basically, it has a lot of dense armor. Trek ships rely on shields, so they're not built to take that kind of damage.

[@senatus]

The Inverse Square Law is the main reason torpedoes can be deadly to the firing ship, but torpedoes fired at warp, with their warp sustaining field generators, *would* eat up some of the overall yield.

[@gam3over698]

Antimatter emitts its energy in form of photons.... =》photon torpedos

[@drjoephd]

Simple explanation. When an atom of matter interacts with an atom of antimatter both are consumed and a photon of light is released. Since the energy in a photon of light can be calculated from Planck’s constant if you know the frequency of the photon you can calculate the energy

[@kirknay]

My personal feeling on the term of "Photon" torpedo is how the damaging energy is released. When matter is destroyed, the vast majority of the energy is released in the form of radiation, as photons, in several wavelengths. Gamma, Alpha, Beta, and IFR are incredibly useful to kill a crew, and critically weaken materials due to ionization. Those balls of light on the torpedo come from the antimatter based propulsion rockets having a bloom effect on any lenses used for cinema. Also note: If used in modern times, these weapons would be illegal on a planetary scale, due to the immediate radiation poisoning any surviving crewmember would withstand on the ship it was used on. This weapon is very crude for a heavy sci-fi universe, and I would personally use ionized railguns to penetrate the ship, and damage core systems with precision shots.

[@resurrectedstarships]

I thought that might be the case too.

[@resurrectedstarships]

Oddly enough I think romulan plasma weapons are safer for the attacker.

[@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870]

kirknay Remember that the quantity of radiation can be changed. In TOS they used photon grenades as powerful as small nukes and suffered no radiation poisoning.

[@kirknay]

I'd love to see a nuclear bomb that a sane person would use as a grenade. Also, unless you decide to block about 3/4 of the damaging effect, you really can't limit the radiation potential of exploding antimatter. You're literally destroying matter more thoroughly than fission and fusion bombs combined, and you expect there to be no radiation? Radiation is literally the cause of nuclear weapons' destructive power in atmosphere, as the intense radiation heats up the surrounding air into plasma.

[@thefirstprimariscatosicari6870]

kirknay The name was photon grenade but it's more like mortar shell than a grenade.

[@smash461986]

Funny this video came up. At work we were saying that a photon torpedo travelled at the speed of light but for tv purposes it isn't shown that fast.

[@Revan-vk2ld]

Honestly in terms of power the proton torpedo in Star Wars when you go to the crazy ass randomness of the EU it out matches the proton torpedo SOMETIMES as in the EU as consistent things barely exist but photon torpedos do have this problem as well but they have a bit better consistently of there power and with the explosion not being so bloody large is probably the containment field making the explosion is just minturized with a bit less power or as much as the massive explosion just contained in a smaller AOE to do more damage this is most likely the same for the proton torpedo and exactly how turbolasers are contained as well witch is my reason for why in cannon in rebels they don't kill everything as the normaly massive explosion is just minimized but as destructive just not as large

[@randybentley2633]

www.grammarly.com

[@Revan-vk2ld]

Randy Bentley fuck of mate

[@randybentley2633]

I was genuinely trying to be helpful there mate.

[@Revan-vk2ld]

Randy Bentley well it came of as insulting

[@randybentley2633]

Do forgive, but there was no other way to put it that couldn't be construed in a multitude of ways. I posted it to be helpful because lord knows without it I'd be in grammer nazi jail.

[@artemistx2143]

I know this is 2 years old by the time I’m watching this but I’m surprised he didn’t mention Halo at the end. I mean, a galactic super weapon is literally what the plot is about. EDIT: Mass Effect as well

[@KohuGaly]

They are called photon torpedoes, because matter-antimatter reaction produces mostly photons. Specifically gamma-ray bursts. From what you described, the glow of the torpedo is caused by leaking in the containment chamber. The high-energy particles produced then fly away through the torpedo's hull (causing cherenkov radiation, in form of the central glow) and warp field (causing synchrotron radiation in form of the rays).

[@GWRProductions-kg9pt]

1:22 which one as Little Boy's blast yield is 15KT & Fat Man is 21KT

[@LIOTBs]

Both Star Trek manuals for for the Enterprise going to great detail about the photon torpedo and will answer all of your questions. One of them even answers the fact that they or initially intended to be accelerated to warp speeds as that was to be there ballistic velocity. They were also intended to be used while at Warp and have warp velocities of their own as warpfield's distort phaser fire. The manuals you can go into detail about the tactics behind them. The phasers are meant to distort, weaken, and dimple shields. Then torpedoes are supposed to be used after that fact to penetrate the weekend shields and enter the ship and detonate on the inside where there is an atmosphere where the concussive force can also be added to the destructive nature of the radiation.

[@ThubanDraconis]

They were an antimatter weapon back in the tech manuals for TOS although I had always believed that the "casing" was not a physical object so much as an energy field that propelled the torpedo and broke down on impact. As to why they are called "photon torpedoes," that can be explained by the physics of antimatter. When antimatter reacts with matter it doesn't explode. Instead both are turned into extremely energetic gamma ray photons. Nearby matter would explode as a result because all of that energy in the form of gamma rays would superheat the matter and vaporize it. Thus they are a torpedo that does damage via the sudden release of photons.

[@Unsound_advice]

Just like most people call it “Kleenex” and not “tissue paper” Starfleet’s longtime supplier of “Antimatter torpedos” is “Photon Industries” thus it became common nomenclature to refer to them that way.

[@dennisanderson3895]

A wonderfully thoughtful analysis!

[@AndreaDavidEdelman]

Have an upvote - but seriously it’s the effect they could afford back then :)

[@dpsamu2000]

The basic principle of quantum electrodynamics (QED) is that an electron "interacts" (annihilates) with a positron (anti electron) producing a photon. This can most easily be diagrammed in the basic Feynman Diagram. These are 3 line diagrams converging to a vertex. They have a line with an arrow pointing into a vertex with another line with an arrow pointing out of the vertex, and a third wavy line to the vertex. Depending on the six ways the 3 line vertex can be oriented diagrams the nature of the interaction. Several orientations involve antimatter. Basically when one of the lines has an arrow pointing into the past (usually down) on the time axis it's antimatter. See Feynman diagram basics. When the wavy line is the bottom line 2 lines coming out the top one arrow pointing down and the other pointing up represents a photon splitting into an electron, and positron pair. When the wavy line is on the top the 2 lower lines are an arrow pointing up, and an arrow pointing down representing an electron positron "annihilation" to produce a photon. In the 1960s most concepts of handling antimatter were based on the fact that positrons are the easiest to handle because they are simply handled in a magnetic bottle. Being mass less there is no need to compensate for movement of the bottle had it contained antimatter that has mass such as anti protons. Since the original Star trek photon torpedoes were named during the sixties they were based on 1960s science. Later series may invoke more advanced use of antimatter involving anti protons etc., antimatter that has mass, but the name photon torpedo is still based on 1960s version. I think Gene Roddenberry mentioned this.

[@chrischeshire6528]

This is pretty much the same for Phasers. Phasers are the combination of Laser and Photon weapons, were Photon guns could "smack" a target with a great deal of force but a laser could punch holes into the target. So both weapons were combined into one.

[@cernowaingreenman]

My theory is that they are called "photon torpedoes" because the fields that keep the matter and antimatter apart are "photo-magnetic" fields, or "photon fields" for short. The earlier versions of the photon torpedoes as whirling balls of energy were simply the matter and antimatter whirling around in these fields with no casing. The shell casing was added later to provide more control over the explosion with added shields and the ability to change the torpedo's path after it was launched.

[@bobbova8708]

just an observation -the original series episode "the Changling" Spock states after one of the attacks from Nomad that the Enterprise shields had absorbed energy equal to 90 photon torpedoes-makes one wonder what they were thinking in later trek incarnations.

[@computer__eyez]

this is amazing! Watched two video already. Thank you for going the extra mile & creating the 3D graphics. I’m working on a game design and needed to catch up on weapon types. I really appreciate your style, you dig into the physics. Subscribed!

[@ddmagee57]

In the old days they taught that photon torpedoes were driven by a mini-warp engine. They were saved for fighting at warp speeds, phasers for sub light fighting. However, they don't follow this rule in later Star Treks. But it's always bothered me that they picture torpedo antimatter explosions being WAY too small.

[@banzailancer9969]

Look man, the digital ships are from the FASA Tactical game and that's awesome. Kudos to you!

[@jemelchellal2375]

IRL, during matter - antimatter anihilations gamma photons are released. For example... Positron + electron ----> 2 gamma photons. I guess this could explain why?!?

[@shaunhurst2595]

I think that photon torpedoes we’re equipped with a warp field generator to allow the torpedo’s warhead to track, lock, and be able to follow a target that wished to escape via warp. The torpedo can’t go into warp but can slip into the wake of a ship’s warp field bubble.

[@lukeorridge3988]

Brilliantly explained. Could you do a video on quantum torpedoes? :)

[@stonkr]

Professor Bob Photon was head of the team that made the first working prototype.

[@gryphon9507]

Photon Torpedoes are very variable in destructive power, from the low kiloton range, all the way in to the tens of megaton range, largest I ever saw in a manual with 50 megatons. As an automatic system the warhead yield is often determined by the target, distance to target, desired effect on target, danger to the firing ship. As you showed the Enterprise fires on a bird of prey coming out of cloak with no shield up, at most perhaps she had defense screens on. Still two photon torpedoes set to full power would of rekt a Berel the first struck her near the cheek right at the bridge and the second in the belly near the engine room. Thus we can surmise that with the close range of the Berel, Enterprise sitting there with her shields down, that a greatly reduce yield was selected by either Chekhov or the ships tactical computer.

[@rommelstar1]

The Winged Defender you show when talking about it, is actually the second artist's version. The first (the one my friends and I preferred) can be found in earlier versions of FASA Starship Combat Simulator.