Originally posted by ngtm1r
Those are torpedo spheres. They use a clustered set of six hundred proton torpedo launchers to break through planetary shields.
Notice they're also much closer to Super Star Destroyer or maybe even ISD size then actual Death Stars. A torpedo sphere is, if memory serves, about 600 meters diameter. Comparison between the Lambda shuttle and the lighted areas in that image would seem to suggest that size.
They're not torpedo spheres; the picture's not from the illustrated guide, either. You can only see the upper left portion of the superlaser in that picture, in this one nearly all of it is visible.
I think the story behind them is that they were for ROTJ, which was originally supposed to have Coruscant instead of Endor in one of its many drafts. I think they fit into Star Wars canon as basically mini-Death Stars that were orbitting Coruscant. I'm not sure what happened to them eventually; the Rebel pansies probably disassembled them.
Anyway, I'm sure they're not torpedo spheres because they've got superlasers; they look virtually identical to the one on the Death Stars. Likely, they skimp on engines and anti-ship defenses in favor of smaller size, repulsorlifts, and stronger shield generators. Probably they were meant to vaporize attacking capital ships. They could be pretty effective, especially if they stayed under Coruscant's layered shield system.
