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why this was in alt.traditional.witchcraft i have no idea, but...
someone posted an explanation for why, in Star Wars, Han Solo talks about being able to do the Kessel run in "less than 12 parsecs". a parsec is indeed a measure of distance, not of time. but the explanation they gave was that that system or area included a number of black holes. thus, in being closer to or farther from them, it would be possible to do the same "run" in a shorter or longer net distance (like adding up zig-zag segments), and what Han was saying was that his ship and he as a pilot were bad-ass enough to be able to shave it really close.
is this actually canon, or is this some kind of made-up explanation to account for what was just an incorrect use of an astronomical term?
someone posted an explanation for why, in Star Wars, Han Solo talks about being able to do the Kessel run in "less than 12 parsecs". a parsec is indeed a measure of distance, not of time. but the explanation they gave was that that system or area included a number of black holes. thus, in being closer to or farther from them, it would be possible to do the same "run" in a shorter or longer net distance (like adding up zig-zag segments), and what Han was saying was that his ship and he as a pilot were bad-ass enough to be able to shave it really close.
is this actually canon, or is this some kind of made-up explanation to account for what was just an incorrect use of an astronomical term?
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Date: Jun. 14th, 2003 07:00 pm (UTC)From:I always got the impression that it wasn't so much a slalom as it is a game of galactic chicken. If you're making the Kessel Run, you have a cargo hold full of illegal spice, and want to get the hell out of there as fast as possible. However, the best way in or out of the system is on the other side of a cluster of black holes.
According to physics, black holes suck. The closer you get, the stronger they pull. The more powerful your ship's engine and the more momentum you have, the closer you can fly to the black holes without being forced to learn what's inside.
Therefore, being able to make it in under 12 parsecs is impressive because the Millenium Falcon is still intact, rather than being a crushed-up ball of metal the size of a grain of sand with a few Han Solo and Chewbacca molecules left in the mix.
Crock of shit? Well, yeah, but at least it's a creatively explained one. :P