Questions about dovin basals:

From what I understand dovin basals are portable black holes that YV ships carry to absorb shock energy and weapons. In that case i have a couple questions:

1. We've seen how DB's have derailed shielding. If a ship got close enough will it get sucked in too? So theoretically, a coralskipper get swallow up a Mon Cal cruiser.

2. Black holes supposedly can suck up anything within a certain radius. That said why doesn't the DB suck up the ship that's carrying it. Also how do the YV fit it on in the first place? Wouldn't they get sucked in? And I don't black holes are something that you can control, or turn off or on like shields.

 

The dovin basals aren't ALWAYS forming black holes. It's not like oh hey, I'm holding a dovin basal, whoops there I go into the black hole it formed. No. They have to be activated/stimulated in some way and they focus the black hole in the irection of the attack. But it's not so much an ACTUAL black hole as it is more a gravity well, because if you recall, the DBs also control the ships propulsion. And two large DBs were used to pull Sernpidal's moon down on it, but they weren't creating "black holes". I think the reference to a black hole is something the authors use to just infer to the reader exactly what happens to the incoming attacks.

 

Yeah DJ-OZ is right. The DBs aren't really creating black holes, its more like they create strong gravity singularities where the effect of gravity crushes targets into virtual nothingness. In that respect, their powers are similar to blackholes.

But they can suck in ships, a Skip tried to ram Jaina from behind and suck her X-wing in a created singularity.

They can also be used in other ways, like the miniature DB mines that sucked up NR "forces".

 

also a black hole won't just suck everything into it, as you get farther away gravity is effected in the same as in any other mass. An example would be if the Earth were crushed into a black hole and you were to stand just as far away from the center as you do now you would only be pulled on as much you are now.

 

Um, no. Not quite. Master Halcyon is correct.

The gravitational force is proportional to the product of the masses of two interacting objects divided by the square of the distance between the two objects (or more precisely, their centers of mass).

That's the force you feel when you feel your weight.

Hence, the gravitational acceleration on an object (acceleration on object = force on object divided by the mass of the object) on Earth is proportional to the mass of Earth divided by the square of the radius of Earth (that is, the distance of the object from the center of the Earth, which is the Earth's center of mass).

In short, if you are 6500 kilometers from the center of the Earth, it doesn't matter if the Earth is a sphere 6500 kilometers in diameter, or concentrated in a black hole with an event horizon of a few centimeters. You will feel the same force and be subject to the same acceleration.

 

Hmmm, I thought that as density increased so did mass. That is, if you compacted the earth down to a sigularity, would its gravitational pull on an objecy increase?

 

Mass is not so much related to density as density is related to mass. Density is defined as mass per unit volume, while mass is more of a fundamental quantity. You increase something's density by packing more mass into the same volume or decreasing the volume that a constant mass takes up. If the earth was compressed there would be just as much mass, but in a much smaller volume. As Anakin SkySolo said, gravitational acceleration from an object is directly proportional to the object's mass and inversely proportional to the distance to the center of mass of the object squared. There is no density component of gravitation.

 

A black hole is, in and of itself, a gravitational singularity. All matter in the black hole has been compressed into a single point. So, in that way, all black holes are the same size.

However, the more common way to classify the size of a black hole is by the size of the event horizon, or the point at which no light can escape the black hole due to its gravity. From the descriptions in the books, I assume that a divin basal DOES project a black hole-like singularity, but that it is a pin-hole-sized one.

However, this also opens many other questions, such as:

Since time slows in a greater gravitational field (theoretically stopping at the event horizon of a black hole), do dovin basals cause the same effect?

Can they also project some sort of anti-gravitational field, allowing them to counteract the effects of the singularity and shielding themselves from its actions?

Where can I get one, and how much would it cost?

Kimball Kinnison

 

In 'Hero's Trial' I know one of the Vong priests was flaoting around in a cushion levitated by a dovin basil. So yes, they can do contra-grav as well, and it's also what moves all Vong ships.

 

DB manipulate gravity. So they can increase or decrease its effect. Thus the blackholes (increase), and the floating (decrease).

 

You figured that out all by yourself? j/k

 

Yes, I did. Because apparently some here didn't. n/k

 

You still haven't said where I can get one. It would be VERY useful for a research project I'm in.

Kimball Kinnison

 

If I had a Dovin Basl, I'd use it to attract women.