Orbital Bombardment

Completed 2023-05-12. Available releases:

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For precision attacks on the surface of a planet from orbit, the best option is a laser; kinetic projectiles lose too much speed and particle beams are quickly absorbed by the atmosphere.

In general, laser weapons are superior at shorter wavelengths because those diffract less. This leads to the X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) concept, which I have already drawn here. However, these wavelengths are also absorbed very well by the atmosphere. For a straight shot at 90° downward, 400 nanometers (violet) optimally balances the effects of diffraction loss against atmospheric attenuation loss. However, at greater angles, there is more atmosphere to punch through, and it seems this shifts the optimal wavelength longer, toward cyan. The nice thing about free-electron lasers is you can choose your frequency to match the desired application.

This is a depiction of such an attack. The spaceship is visible only as a diffraction spike at the top left, and is firing downward and at a steep (foreshortened) angle. The laser is invisible in space and the upper atmosphere, but as it reaches lower, the sheer intensity of the beam creates a plasma channel, which shows up as white, and of course much of the light scatters, resulting in cyan illumination throughout the area. Everything is accurately to scale.

Artistically, this is an acrylic painting. Because the painting is larger, I was unable to scan it. I used a 3⨯ zoom lens to photograph it and cleaned it up with Krita filters. It was a particular challenge since I used high-gloss varnish—in person, this makes the blacks darker, but is difficult to photograph. The result is fairly close to the original but alas still seems to be missing a certain energy.

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