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Why do they call the "turbolasers" from Star Wars that? They aren't actually lasers, as you can see the blast of energy flying through space and it isn't going at the speed of light, yet they still call them "turbolasers".

Does anyone know why they call them that? I am asking why are turbolasers called lasers when in actuality they fire highly energized gas projectiles?

enter image description here

Valorum
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Darth Vader
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    Are you asking specifically about the "laser" part, or also about the "turbo-" part? The "turbo-" part is probably from things like "turboprop," where it originally referred to a jet turbine (combined with a propeller) and then came to mean "mega-," "super-fast-," or "awesome." – MissMonicaE Mar 13 '18 at 12:55
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    @MissMonicaE I am asking mostly about the "laser" part, but answering about the "turbo" part as well might be helpful, although I understand that "turbo" probably refers to the power of each shot. – Darth Vader Mar 13 '18 at 12:58
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    All I've got is "all cool weapons that shoot colored light are lasers," then. – MissMonicaE Mar 13 '18 at 12:59
  • @MissMonicaE Lasers are weapons that use beams of light as a projectile. The Death Star is a giant super-laser-wielding battle station. It actually uses a "laser", as the beam travels almost instantly to its targets, as seen when Alderaan is destroyed in A New Hope. What I want to know is, why do they call "turbolasers", "lasers", when they don't shoot lasers? – Darth Vader Mar 13 '18 at 13:03
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    I mean "get called lasers in sci-fi," not "are actually lasers," ie that they're using the term by equivocation. (If someone invented a weapon like this in our world, it would probably get called a laser cannon in popular speech, despite the best efforts of people like you.) Anyway that's my best theory--there may be a more certain answer in canon. – MissMonicaE Mar 13 '18 at 13:07
  • Possible duplicate of Why do blaster bolts move slower than the speed of light? – TheIronCheek Mar 13 '18 at 14:35
  • @TheIronCheek none of those answers give me the answer I want. – Darth Vader Mar 13 '18 at 15:37
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    @MissMonicaE if you would put your comment (that has 3 useful comment votes) as an answer then that would be nice. – Darth Vader Mar 13 '18 at 15:37
  • @DarthVader ahhh I just saw this and missed out on all those sweet sweet internet points :( – MissMonicaE Mar 13 '18 at 19:48
  • AFAIU, both blasters and turbolasers use lasers to energize the gas and turn it into plasma. Per Valorum's answer, the difference appears to be how powerful they are (and that the turbolaser stores the plasma after energizing it, rather than keeping the gas in a compressed inert state). – Matthew Read Mar 13 '18 at 20:36
  • @MatthewRead - That isn't the case in either Canon or Legends. The blaster users a electrical power-pack and intense light (note, not a laser) to energise the plasma; http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Blaster/Legends – Valorum Mar 13 '18 at 23:47
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    @MissMonicaE, the etymology of "turbo"=="fast" doesn't come from aviation, it comes from the automotive industry. Once upon a time, only race cars and hot-rods were equipped with superchargers--big, ugly, expensive machines that boosted the power available from a given sized engine. Then, one day, circa 1980-something, I think, car companies started fitting higher-end production cars with, compact, discreet, and less-expensive turbochargers. They would add the word "turbo" to the badge so that everyone would know you were driving one, and suddenly, "turbo" was a synonym for "fast". – Solomon Slow Mar 14 '18 at 00:06
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    "Lasers are weapons that use beams of light as a projectile." Sigh... no. – RonJohn Mar 14 '18 at 00:35
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    Why are IRL neon lights called "neon" even if they have a different gas in them? – vsz Mar 14 '18 at 05:40
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    There can only be one Vader, who is this impostor? – Darth Vader Mar 14 '18 at 11:22
  • @jameslarge ha, I learn something new every day. Thanks! – MissMonicaE Mar 14 '18 at 12:30
  • @Darth Vader Does this site have anti-imposter coding? IMPOSTER! – Darth Vader Mar 14 '18 at 15:51
  • Turbolasers are neither turbo nor lasers. Discuss. – Nuclear Hoagie Mar 14 '18 at 17:52

2 Answers2

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There's a nice description of how the turbolaser works in the Star Wars: Official Fact File #45. In essence, the technology uses lasers to energise the plasma which is then ejected at high speed toward the intended target.

Imperial turbolaser technology uses intensely focused lasers to energize compact pockets of Tibanna gas until the weak molecular bonds of the gas break down. Once that occurs, a second beam of photons is introduced. This excites the free molecules to such a high temperature that the electrons on the individual atoms break away and the gas becomes plasma. These pockets of plasma are retained in a small magnetic bottle at the base of the turbolaser barrel, until the moment the weapon discharges.

The "turbo" prefix seems to simply refer to the fact that the gun is more powerful than a standard blaster or laser, combining the two technologies.

Moving down the canon scale, the New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology gives us some specifics on the power of a turbolaser over a conventional laser canon. Note that that description of how it works is slightly different from the one above but there's still a laser being used to actuate the blast in the "Galven coils".

Turbolasers are two-stage supercharged laser cannons. The small primary laser produces an energy beam that enters the turbolaser's main actuator, where it interacts with a stream of energized blaster gas to produce an intense blast. The energy bolt's destructive power is incredible, and the barrel's galven coils focus the beam, providing a range that is double or triple that of conventional laser cannons. Turbolasers also can target planetary surfaces for devastating ground bombardments.

enter image description here

DavidW
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Valorum
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    So Valorum is teaching Darth Vader the inner workings of top-secret Imperial military technology publicly on the Internet. Seriously, the Empire is getting more and more complacent these days... – zovits Mar 14 '18 at 12:59
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    Thats a very complicated way to say "it uses lasers to heat the gas"... – Odalrick Mar 14 '18 at 13:30
  • If you use a laser to hit the gas, why not just use the laser to hit the target? – einpoklum Mar 14 '18 at 14:49
  • @einpoklum The lasers heat gas at an even rate over a long time, then the gas transfers that energy to a target over a much shorter time. Using the lasers directly would require much better tracking and be less effective against targets that change range or become obstructed by other objects. At least, it's a thought. – Kamil Drakari Mar 14 '18 at 16:18
  • I buy the argument in your first sentence, don't buy the one in your second. Another possibility is that the gas itself has energy in it which is released either on heating by laser or on impact via some kind of reaction. – einpoklum Mar 14 '18 at 16:26
  • @einpoklum - Because a blaster is more powerful than a laser and a turbolaser is more powerful than both. Note that a laser is basically coherent light whereas a plasma blast has an explosive effect – Valorum Mar 14 '18 at 17:10
  • @Valorum: If you fire the same amount of energy as in a plasma blast using a coherent laser you could cut a ship; and then the explosion doesn't matter all that much. – einpoklum Mar 14 '18 at 17:14
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    @einpoklum - The text indicates that the plasma (once charged) is then stored before being discharged. That indicates that that laser is inputting energy quite slowly and the gas is acting as a capacitor. – Valorum Mar 14 '18 at 17:23
  • @Valorum: Like I said, that argument I do buy. But if it didn't take that much time... – einpoklum Mar 14 '18 at 17:32
  • @einpoklum Because we don't really know whether you can even hit a target if you and your target have a relative speed of more than lightspeed. – Mast Mar 14 '18 at 19:19
  • With lasers, that is. Lasers being light and all. – Mast Mar 14 '18 at 19:46
  • @Mast: Blasters and lasers are not for use during hyperspace jumps, when no fighting happens AFAIK. – einpoklum Mar 14 '18 at 20:01
  • @Mast if you can’t hit a target with a laser, it won’t help firing something much slower than a laser. – Holger Mar 15 '18 at 08:46
  • @Holger What's the projectile speed of a turbolaser? – Mast Mar 15 '18 at 15:49
  • @Mast considering the explanation of this answer, definitely slower than the speed of light. – Holger Mar 15 '18 at 16:25
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According to the Wookieepedia entry for Turbolaser:

The turbolaser was the immensely scaled-up version of the blaster and laser cannon.

So it seems to be a catch-all description for very large, high-damage energy weapons.

I say "high-damage" as the disabling Ion Cannons seems to be counted as a distinctive category.

"Order the defense towers to fire ion cannons and turbolasers at will!"

DavidW
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Emil S. Jørgensen
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