The Physics of the Death Star

How to destroy an Alderaan-sized planet.

“What’s that star?
It’s the Death Star.
What does it do?
It does Death. It does Death, buddy. Get out of my way!” -Eddie Izzard

It’s one of the most iconic sequences in all of film: the evil galactic empire takes the captured princess to her home planet of Alderaan, a world not so different from Earth, threatening to destroy it unless she tells them the location of the hidden rebel base. Distressed but loyal to her cause, she lies, giving them the name of a false location, which they have no way of knowing. Nevertheless, they give the order to fire, and despite her protestations, this is what happens next.

I want you to think about this for a moment:

• A battle station the size of the Moon,
• With a mysterious, unexplained power source at its core,
• Charges up and fires a laser-like ray at an entire, Earth-sized planet,
• And completely destroys it.