The Rishi Maze - much confusion

[T J]

Hi all! So we all remember that beautiful shot at the end of Star Wars TESB as the Falcon departs and Luke and friends are standing at a window with a spectacular view of what appears at first sight to be some sort of galaxy of star cluster.

Known as the Rishi maze I was wondering if there is any further info on it... not really, here what wookipedia has to say about it: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Rishi_Maze.

Hilariously enough that page contradicts itself saying in the main text it is a dwarf galaxy near wild space while the caption under the one and only pic says the maze orbits the main galaxy... I could be misunderstand this and when it says near wild space it could mean the outside part... Not too clear on this

I know I know lots of controversy surrounding this. I though those with knowledge of the EU or other sources might know more than I do on the subject.

If nothing else something for SW fans to chew on...

 

[USS Avenger]

The page also notes that the "keeper of the holocron" states that Luke and friends are looking at in ESB is the Star Wars Galaxy, thus not the Rishi Maze. Granted, I am not sure how canon that is or what level of canon or whatever (the "levels" of Star Wars canon make my head hurt ) but it just adds to the confusion of the whole thing.

 

[Shawnster]

Let's see if breaking it down makes any more sense:

The Rishi Maze (known formally as Companion Aurek) was a difficult-to-navigate dwarf galaxy located near Wild Space. The planet Kamino was very close to the Rishi Maze. The Maze region was a place smugglers could hide or someone could lose trackers.



Photo Caption: The Rishi Maze orbiting the galaxy as appear in the Jedi Archives.

OK, taking both comments together we conclude the Rishi Maze orbits the galaxy and is near Wild Space.


1. How fast does it orbit the galaxy? Does it take thousands of years or does it orbit once a day? It is possible to orbit something and still be over the same fixed position - geostationary satellites orbit the Earth yet are constantly over a particular region or location on the Earth.


2. What is Wild Space?

Wild Space

was the frontier of galactic society, separating the known parts of the galaxy from the Unknown Regions.

Eh, that's kinda vague. What is the Unknown Regions?

The Unknown Regions, Unknown Space, Unknown Sector, or Unknown Territories was the collective term for all regions of the galaxy not formally charted; it differed from Wild Space in that Wild Space was usually minimally charted, but not fully explored.


The Unknown Regions could be broadly defined as areas not connected with the skein of reliable or well-known hyperspace routes spanning the galaxy, did not look to Coruscant as the ultimate center of civilization, or were not under the broad hegemony of the Galactic Republic before the Galactic Civil War—but the full reasons behind this lack of contact remain unknown.

Now these two things seem contradictory. Wild Space appears to be a specific area of the galaxy that acts as a buffer or border BETWEEN two other specific areas of the galaxy (The known parts from the unknown parts).


From the definition of The Unknown Regions is a collective term for various regions of the galaxy. It is quite possible the Unknown Regions are not all lumped together in one location but, rather, could be scattered about the galaxy. Kinda like little unknown pockets here and there.


Perhaps, viewing the galaxy as a 3-D disc of sphere or shape of some kind we can imagine Wild Space to be a ring or shell around the galaxy with the known regions inside this ring or shell and the unknown regions outside it.



This doesn't help with the fact that the Rishi Maze being located near Wild Space though. Of course, what does the word near mean? Can the Rishi Maze be near Wild Space yet orbit the galaxy? Is Wild Space a solid region/ring/shell or does it have a more amorphous or asymetrical shape? Could parts of Wild Space be at the edge of the galaxy?

 

[T J]

WOW!

Soooo... the rishi maze = Magellanic Clouds...? Maybe?

 

[Tulin]

I always just assumed they were right out on the edge of the galaxy, looking back in.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

1. How fast does it orbit the galaxy? Does it take thousands of years or does it orbit once a day? It is possible to orbit something and still be over the same fixed position - geostationary satellites orbit the Earth yet are constantly over a particular region or location on the Earth.

Hundreds of millions, possibly billions, of years to orbit the Star Wars galaxy.

Stars closer to the galactic core would orbit faster. Stars further out would orbit slower. Much as Mercury orbits Sol faster than Jupiter; not just because it's closer, but because there's more orbital velocity.

Sol orbits the Milky Way core in about 250 million years. Stars further out may take half a billion years. For stars on the fringe of intergalactic night, a billion years to orbit the galactic core would not be unreasonable.

I don't think a "galactostationary orbit" is possible. Too many moving parts.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

I want to say I've seen calcs done on this somewhere on the vast internets going with the assumption that the object in TESB is the Star Wars galaxy. Based on the minimum distance necessary to actually see the whole galaxy and the fact that it was visibly moving meant it's rotational velocity would have to be faster than the speed of light.

Since that's beyond retarded, I believe it was explained as a protostar forming in some of the EU fluff, though that might not make any sense either. For certain, it can't be a galaxy.

 

[Tulin]

I think people are missing the point. This is SW. It aint about science. They wanted a cool looking shot at the end of TESB. End of.

 

[Stevil2001]

Soooo... the rishi maze = Magellanic Clouds...? Maybe?

Essentially. It's a dwarf galaxy companion to the main galaxy.

 

[Base_Delta_Zero]

I think people are missing the point. This is SW. It aint about science. They wanted a cool looking shot at the end of TESB. End of.

That doesn't mean they intended for the image to be interpreted as a revolving galaxy. Or if they did, that that wouldn't be completely dumb.