Chapter 3: Phasers and Death Stars - Class I

The Star Wars Trilogy best demonstrates the use of Phaser guns and Death Stars. Sure, these weapons can kill in massive volumes, but are they not too fictional to exist in the real world? Not anytime soon will we see massive planet-like lasers in outer space blowing up stars, nor will we anytime soon see laser guns that shoot deadly beams of light. What we may see, however, is something a little more natural, that one day, we may possibly be able to control; enter Gamma Ray Burtsers.

Gamma Ray Bursters were discovered by accident. An American launched satellite, intended to detect Soviet "nukeflashes" caught glimpse of uniform radiation coming for every corner of space from outside of the Milky Way. If this radiation was extragalactic, these Gamma Ray Bursters must be releasing astronomical amounts of power, enough to light up the entire visible universe. Think of a Gamma Ray Burster as a monster black hole in formation. It emits two jets or radiation, one from the north pole and one from the south. If the jet from a Gamma Ray Burster were aimed at the Earth, and found within our galactic neighborhood (a few hundred light-years from Earth), its power would obliterate all life on our planet. The Bursters X-ray pulse would first wipe out all electronic devices on the planet, then, the second wave of X-rays and gamma rays would dissolve the ozone and heat up temperatures on Earth high enough to cause global firestorms that would kill every living organism.

It is quite possible that a civilization thousands of years in the future may be able to project such a black hole in the direction of a certain target. To do this, they would have to deflect the path of planets and neutron stars into a dying star at a precise angle before it collapses. This deflection would be enough to change the Busters spin and aim it at a certain angle. The idea sounds far out there, however, with continuous advancements in technology, civilization might one day be able to produce the largest ray gun imaginable using a Gamma Ray Burster