those images are there to point out 2 things-

1- the bridge shield generators are the huge bulbs on top of the bridge

2- the engines for a star destroyer are huge

I've got a picture, too.

http://www.theforce.net/swtc/Pix/kdy/blueisd1.gif

This blueprint was published in 1978, and clearly labels them as long-range scanners.

http://www.theforce.net/swtc/towers.html

The second link has an entire treatise on the subject, but it's about half-way down the page. Do a search on the page for "Sensor Globes." Whether you agree or not, it's a good read, with compelling arguments.

EDIT: Or just click on the "Sensor Globes" link at the top of the page

P.S.S. Also read the 2 sections following it. CINEFEX Proof has a quote from a special effects specialist on Return of the Jedi referring to them as radar domes, and the following section has some tidbits from the X-wing video games. Honestly, it's the X-wing video games that got me believing they are shield generators, but I never stopped to really think about it. It just doesn't make sense to me anymore.

Those are very good reasonings, and i don't think any one is arguing that they SHOULD be shield domes. But its ludicrous to take an outdated manual for an entirely different class of ship than the one we have 1st tier canon sources for, and some 2nd hand quotes from a special effects artist. Of course he's going to say they're radar domes. That's exactly what they look like in our world.

But its basic cause and effect in the movie: Dome goes boom, cutaway to bridge crew, officer yells about shields being lost. Thats 1st tier canon right there. There's no ambiguity. Otherwise i can argue that anytime you see Han shoot at a guy with his blaster and it cuts to his target getting hit, I can argue thats its some random guy offscreen shooting the poor stormy.

Poor guys on that super star destroyer ...

my imperial heart is bleeding ...

I always wondered how a ship that **** big didn't have 5 or 6 auxiliary bridges, located in the center of the ship where there was so much mass that nothing could possibly get through. Also, with all the vectors possible, how did it plunge EXACTLY into the Death Star? Shouldn't it have at least been caught by the forest moon's gravity and crashed into it, causing a global extinction event?

Also, with all the vectors possible, how did it plunge EXACTLY into the Death Star? Shouldn't it have at least been caught by the forest moon's gravity and crashed into it, causing a global extinction event?

I've always assumed that it was close enough to the DS to be caught it ITS gravity.

Who thought it was a carrier? Nothing in the article suggests that.

I think just that is mentioned somewhere in one of the previous FFG articles on the Raider, though I can't locate it at the moment.

The main point of Tie Advanced as escorts was that they were hyperspace capable (or at least the X1s were) and therefore required no docking facilities to jump into and out of a combat zone.

is there some kind of "official" statement saying the panels on the ship are solar??? maybe they are shield generators? or perhaps they are ion generators that aid in maneuverability?? as for the single nozzle in the rear as was mentioned the tie fighters have very small engines. The CR-90 might be an older design with less advanced engine technology. also if its weapons are plasma based they can be curved/warped with magnetic fields maybe the panels do that to aid in targeting/aiming.. Kind of like the ESA radars vs the old school mechanically slewed ones.. also perhaps the panels are radar emitters/receivers? maybe its a "Stealth emitter" and the Raider will be able to cloak!!!lol

1- While the Raider has significantly less mass than the CR-90, it also appears to have only one drive engine. Would the reduced mass keep the Raider moving at a decent speed with reduced engines?

This question doesn't really make any sense. They're in space. You only need engines for accelerating. Unless another force is acting on the ship, it keeps travelling at the same speed without any motive force at all.

Not how Star Wars or X-Wing work. Large ships move like boats and starfighters like aircraft.

Also, with all the vectors possible, how did it plunge EXACTLY into the Death Star? Shouldn't it have at least been caught by the forest moon's gravity and crashed into it, causing a global extinction event?

I've always assumed that it was close enough to the DS to be caught it ITS gravity.

The DS had gravity generators just as all Star Wars ships do, but also was large enough to have its own gravity via mass (which was probably around a class 3 moon). The first Death Star had enough gravity being produced that the rebel ships would be pulled down by it with approximately the same force as earth surface gravity. The second Death Star probably had much more powerful gravity generators causing capital ships within one DS radius to be pulled down when damaged. The DS also had interdictor-like Gravity well generators that created mass shadows that kept ships from entering hyperspace when within a certain range.

6. I think we are underestimating the relative size of the ship. A frigate-sized ship has a complement of 100-200, and while the space is probably cramped I think the bridge is not 'waist-high'. Compare the bridge to the faceted cockpit glass of the TIE Advanced next to it. While it's hard to tell objectively how large the TIE is we can compare it to the more conventional setup of an X-Wing or A-Wing which we can assume is the same size as a contemporary jet fighter cockpit. With all that in mind the windows on the Raider are probably quite large, more on the scale of the bridges windows we see in Star Destroyers in the Original Trilogy.

What makes you think most frigates in Star Wars have 200 people on them? Most of the GCW era Frigate models I can find have 800 or more crew, It the corvettes which are usually in the 100 to 200 range.

The "wings" of Tie Fighters are actually 'radiators' to help dissipate heat, so I go with that use for all "solar panel looking" wings on all ships, Raider included!

From Wikipedia, "the wings of the prequel-era forerunners of the TIE, Scimitar and Advanced Projects prototype, have been identified instead as radiator assemblages for waste heat from a conventional Star Wars reactor core."

RISE!!!!