Page 1 of 1
#1 Size of the SW Galaxy; 165,000 lightyears?
Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 11:16 am
by Narsil
Using
the map from AotC, combined with the minimum dwarf spiral galaxy size (30,000 lightyears IIRC, do correct me if I'm wrong) for the dwarf galaxy on the right (33 pixels across), I've managed to calculate that the main galaxy (183 pixels across) is loosely 5.5 times the size of the galaxy on the right, which sets the lower limit of the Star Wars galaxy as 165,000 lightyears across... which is much higher than the EU Estimates of 120,000, interestingly enough.
If I've messed up galaxy type, size or shape somewhere along the line, please tell me so I can fix it.
#2
Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 11:47 am
by Narsil
GHETTO EDIT: A slight re-measurement (I think I screwed up somewhere) places it at five times the width, which equates to about 150,000, which is still bigger than originally thought.
#3
Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 11:47 am
by Ace Pace
I'll quote what the SWTC says and bug out.
Source
Galaxy
The galaxy successively governed by the Galactic Republic, Palpatine's Empire and the New Republic was a typical spiral galaxy consisting of several hundred billion stars. According to Lando Calrissian in Shield of Lies (p.39) the galactic disk is 120,000 light years in diameter. According to the musings of Boba Fett in Tales of the Bounty Hunters, there are of the order of a hundred billion star systems and twenty million intelligent species. A hundred billion star systems is typical of a galaxy of this size, and the total number of stars would be somewhat larger since a majority of stars are in binary or multiple systems.
According to Dark Empire there are over twelve million inhabited systems. Most other references are less specific, including only vague notions of "a thousand thousand worlds." In agreement with Grand Moff Tarkin's statement about the Empire's membership [A New Hope, p.116], The STAR WARS Roleplaying Game Second Edition [p.126] indicates over a million "member worlds", supplemented by "colonies, protectorates and governorships" amounting to "nearly fifty million systems." The member worlds presumably are the only ones directly represented in galactic institutions. The book also states that the total sapient population is only about 100 quadrillion beings, meaning 1017 or 1026 depending on whether the colloquial or traditional interpretation is used. This seems remarkably low (and is perhaps unrealistic) considering the number of worlds, and the resources of barren systems that can feed them.
#4
Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 11:51 am
by Narsil
Ah yes, but the EU sources listed there, and even the film novelisation, are kind of overridden by that map because that map is actually, y'know, in the films. I do accept the EU as canon, it's just that the films are always more canon.
#5
Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 2:58 pm
by Batman
I dimly recall a minimum size of 3,000ly but can currently find nothing to back that up.
That being said, while your math looks solid, remember that you're working with a 2-dimensional depiction of 3-dimensional space (well, technically a 2-dimensional depiction of a 2-dimensional depiction
) so unless you know those galaxies are the same distance from the 'camera' (for want of a better term) their relative apparent sizes are not something to go by.
#6
Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 3:11 pm
by Narsil
It's the best we've got in-movie, and it is in the same ballpark as 120,000ly (albeit 30,000ly wider)
#7
Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 6:13 pm
by SirNitram
From what orifice is the size of the dwarf galaxy pulled, precisely? If it's from the minimum for a dwarf galaxy, allow me to state my disinclination to beleive anything scientific you put forth, Darkane.
#8
Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 3:40 am
by JEAP
From
An Atlas of the Universe, maybe? Their glossary entry on dwarf galaxies says that ones under thirty thousand lightyears in diameter are usually considered dwarfs.
The Hubble Sequence classifies them by adding a d in front of its normal terms, though I can't find a condition for applying this to a galaxy.
