Starfleet Jedi

Just how much can Trek shields absorb/deflect? What are some of the finest examples to work from to find that information?

For instance, we can make edjumuhkated guesses at some of it once we have phaser or photon torpedo firepower, but beyond such old examples as "Relics", where else has any real work been done on finding the answers to direct examples?

What are examples in need of calculation?

Discuss.

Well Relics seem to work well. I'll try to dig my reply in one of SBC's recent threads (one or two months ago tops) to get more matter to discuss about it.
There's that other incident with a Borg ship destroyed by a small flare, and another episode where I recall two Klingon ships are also destroyed, I think, but a ship going to warp close to the photosphere of a yellow star and triggering a stellar flare as well.

I won't get into the debate of Generations' saucer section having shields or not.

Are there any other cases involving more natural phenomena against shields?

I did calculations for the necessary energy to destroy a Galaxy class starship stardive here in the Phaser/warp power thread a while back. Approximately 3.98 gigatons. In the case of the Yamato's destruction, the E-D shields were ordered up, and even deflect a small chunk of the doomed starship. A similar situation happens in Generations, of course, with the E-D's own stardrive, but the energy requirements should be more-or-less the same as in both circumstances there is near-total vaporization of the stardrives.

Against natural phenomena:

- "Evolution": The E-D is sent out of control by the nanite infestation and is just able to regain control enough to put up shields before colliding with a stream of matter flowing from a star to it's companion neutron star.

- In "Allegiance": The E-D gets within 20 million kilometers of a pulsar. The visual effects are a bit wonky, and it is uncertain if the E-D is being hit by the intense emission beams of the thing. If not, then it is a modestly weak shield strength value, if it is being hit my the emission beams, then it is a fairly high one.

- "Redemption, Part II": Three Klingon BoPs get close enough to skim a G-type star's photosphere, and this after they were in extended combat. A big visual FX issue is whether the warping out of Kurn's BoP results in a flare that destroys the pursuing BoPs, or if they crash into the star. The latter is supported by the shooting script. If they did crash, then they did so at a decent fraction of c, since it took only 30 seconds for all the ships to reach the photosphere from the edge of the star's corona (up to several million kilometers).

- "Shadows and Symbols": Worf and Martok's BoP withstands long exposure to a G-type star while just skimming the photosphere's surface as they attempt to induce a massive solar flare to destroy the Dominion's Monac shipyards.

There other examples, but this is all I have time to write up. More later, if needed.
-Mike